18 Aug 2014 | Cricket
The most coveted prize in world cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy is coming to Cardiff for the England versus India Royal London One-Day International at the SWALEC Stadium on Wednesday 27th August.
Scheduled to arrive first at Lord's on 18 August, it will be welcomed by England ODI vice-captain Eoin Morgan along with representatives of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the ICC, the trophy will then begin a global tour around 13 countries before arriving at Melbourne.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will commence on 14 February, with England taking on host Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). With only 180 days to go until the opening matches, Morgan said: The focus will be on 50-over cricket between now and the ICC Cricket World Cup once this Test match against India is over. There will be real competition for places in the England set-up and I know that playing in an ICC Cricket World Cup is special. It is the ICC's pinnacle event and it is an event that really captures the imagination of the entire cricketing world.
The fact that the World Cup trophy will tour England and Wales in the next few weeks will help raise not only profile but also excitement around the ICC Cricket World Cup.
England is scheduled to participate in a tri-series also involving current champion India and four-time champion Australia, in Australia in January. This will be a good opportunity for the team to assess its preparation ahead of the tournament it has never won, but reached the final of three times - 1979, 1987 and 1992.
Everyone in the England camp is hugely excited about the prospect of competing in Australia and New Zealand - in what is two hugely challenging environments against the very best players in world cricket, said Morgan, who, having played 78 ODIs for England to date, is aiming to appear in his third ICC Cricket World Cup.
Morgan will be joined in welcoming the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy by Steve Elworthy, the ECB's Managing Director of Global Events, Derek Brewer, Chief Executive & Secretary of the MCC and Head of the ICC Europe Regional Office, Nick Pink, at the Grace Gates.
Elworthy, who played in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 when it was held in England, is looking forward to hosting the trophy at Lord's: The last time the ICC Cricket World Cup came to Lord's was at the end of the 2010 season as a part of the build-up towards the 2011 tournament in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It proved incredibly popular with all the visitors to the ground and I am sure that will be the case again - especially the spectators at the Middlesex game against India here at Lord's on Friday.
For everyone in England and Wales, the trophy tour will not only add to the awareness of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 but also mark the build-up to the next round of ICC global events to be held on these shores - the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women's World Cup, both in 2017, and, of course, the ICC Cricket World Cup itself in 2019.
Brewer added: Lord's has a special affinity with the ICC Cricket World Cup - staging the first three finals in 1975, 1979 and 1983- as well as the 1999 final. All those finals produced some really iconic images and special memories in the history of the ICC Cricket World Cup. On behalf of the MCC it is an honour to welcome the trophy to England and Wales.
The 11th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup will feature a total of 14 teams, which includes the four qualifiers Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pink said: The ICC Europe regional office is based at Lord's and so this is a special moment for us all. ICC's Associate Members from Europe are again well represented with Ireland and Scotland - where the trophy will travel to after leaving Cardiff - both reaching next year's tournament through a global qualification pathway that culminated in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand earlier this year.
Members of the public will be encouraged to take their own photos with the trophy and tweet these using the following hashtags: For the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, the generic hashtag is #CWC15, and the trophy tour-specific hashtag is #CWCtrophytour.
The ICC Cricket World Cup trophy will travel to the following locations in the United Kingdom:
Date Location What's On
Mon 18-Aug Lord's Trophy arrives in England at Lord's
Thu 21-Aug Lord's MCC Museum
Fri 22-Aug Lord's India v Middx 50 over match (MCC Museum)
Sat 23-Aug Edgbaston NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day
Mon 25-Aug Bristol Royal London ODI
Wed 27-Aug Cardiff Royal London ODI
Thu 28-Aug Trophy departs for Scotland
At each of the venues, legends of the game will be on hand to meet supporters and share their memories of challenging for the ultimate prize in the flagship ODI tournament of world cricket.
The trophy will arrive in the UK from Bangladesh, before which it had toured Sri Lanka, and it's next stop will be Scotland. After visiting 13 countries over four months, the trophy will arrive in Melbourne on 6 November.