SPORTS
Jonathan Ramnansingh
If Cricket West Indies (CWI) invites bids from Caribbean nations to host the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) will fully support any submission made by the government to contested such high-level matches. on local soil.
So says Azim Bassarath, the president of the TTCB, who remains hopeful that the CWI presents a bid for the regional territories to compete for host nation status at the prestigious T20 event.
Bassarath applauded the ICC’s decision on Tuesday to give USA Cricket and CWI joint hosting rights for the 2024 tournament. However, he hopes TT will be given an opportunity to compete for matches after this the event also serves as the first major ICC tournament to be held in the US.
“We hope that CWI will invite bids from different territories and I am very sure that our government will submit a bid because this is a big mega-event. We have just seen what happened in the United Arab Emirates (T20 World Cup).
“I am very sure if we invite to submit a bid, the TTCB will support the government in submitting a bid so that we can host some of those matches.
“I definitely think it could be of great benefit to TT to have the games broadcast live all over the world. It can only do us good to expose TT for what we are,” he said.
Bassarath said many people and organizations have targeted the American market and this is an ideal opportunity for USA Cricket to connect.
He continued, “Having the opportunity to co-host with the West Indies, I think USA Cricket can take off now. The United States is filled with cricket fans who travel around the world to watch cricket. Now, cricket is coming to them and I think cricket is going to be a big thing in the US in the near future.”
This will be the first time the T20 World Cup will be hosted in the USA and the fourth time WI will host an ICC global cricket event; the last one in 2010.
TT Olympic Committee President Brian Lewis also spoke about the ICC’s historic decision saying the 2024 competition offers a pathway for the sport’s (men’s and women’s T20) chances to feature, for the first time, at the Games Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
The region will also play host to the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, which begins in January next year.
Bassarath added, “We have not organized a major event since 2010 and we will be hosting the ICC U-19 World Cup in January.
“But the T20 Men’s World Cup is one of the biggest cricket events in the world, a super mega-event, in which all the international cricket stars will participate. I feel the government will deliver and I believe we will get some games.”
The partnership between USA Cricket and CWI is geared towards growing the game in America, re-energizing the sport with a new generation of fans in the West Indies and unlocking the potential of cricket in the USA.
A recent CWI statement said the partnership and bid planning, which began nearly two years ago, aims to deliver “innovative fan and matchday experiences that combine Caribbean carnivals with the best of American ‘sports’ and breaking new ground in digital innovation and integration.
“The long-term goal is to accelerate cricket’s growth as the world’s No. 2 sport toward mainstream status in the United States and increase cricket’s prospects for inclusion in the Olympic Games, to be hosted in Los Angeles in 2028.
