KOLKATA: Hosts England will begin their quest for a maiden 50-overs World Cup title against perennial under-achievers South Africa on May 30 next year with Lord’s staging the final on July 14, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.

One-day cricket’s most coveted trophy has eluded three-times finalists England who staged the first three World Cups between 1975 and 1983 and also in 1999.

Old Trafford will host the 10-team tournament’s most-anticipated day/night match on June 16 between Asian arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

Old foes Pakistan, India clash in Manchester on June 16

The collapse of bilateral cricket between the bitter South Asian neighbours means their fans can only watch them in ICC events.

England could not advance beyond the group stage of the 2015 edition but have since grown into a formidable ODI outfit, rekindling hopes of breaking their World Cup duck on home soil.

They begin against a South Africa side who have never been beyond the semi-finals.

Ashes rivals Australia, currently recovering from a ball-tampering scandal, will begin their title defence against plucky qualifiers Afghanistan in a day/night fixture on June 1 at Bristol.

Cricket Australia is searching for a new one-day captain after slapping 12-month bans on former skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner following last month’s fiasco in South Africa.

While both will be free to play in the tournament, Smith has also been barred from captaincy for two years, while Warner will not be considered for any leadership role again.

“Because of the UK’s diverse population, every competing team will also be guaranteed a ‘home crowd’ every time they play at some of the most iconic cricket grounds in the world,” the tournament’s managing director Steve Elworthy said in a statement.

“The Cricket World Cup is the third most watched global event and has huge interest and appeal among cricket fans. Our ambition is to grow the game and deliver the greatest ever cricket celebration...,” he added.

The 46-day tournament will be played across 11 venues in England and Wales with Manchester’s Old Trafford venue hosting six matches.

The tournament will follow its 1992 format with all 10 teams playing each other in the round-robin league to determine the four teams who will advance to the semi-finals at Old Trafford and Edgbaston on July 9 and 11 respectively, with the final at Lord’s, the ‘home of cricket’ on July 14.

Lord’s will host a World Cup final for the fifth time.

“We know from previous ICC events that every country will be proudly supported at each of the venues creating an exceptional atmosphere and a real celebration of the game,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said.

But London’s Olympic Stadium will not stage any matches after there had been speculation that the arena, which has a capacity of some 60,000 — more than double that of Lord’s and nearly three times that of The Oval, London’s other established major international cricket venue — might be used as a World Cup venue in a bid to attract new audiences to the game.

But the ground, now known as the London Stadium and home to Premier League football club West Ham United, has been ignored amid reports that the cost of converting into a ground for cricket — a sport it has yet to stage — was too expensive.

Schedule:

May 30: England vs South Africa (The Oval).
May 31: Pakistan vs West Indies (Trent Bridge).
June 1: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka (Cardiff);
Australia vs Afghanistan (Bristol, D/N).
June 2: South Africa vs Bangladesh (The Oval).
June 3: England vs Pakistan (Trent Bridge).
June 4: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan (Cardiff).
June 5: India vs South Africa (Southampton); New Zealand vs Bangladesh (The Oval, D/N).
June 6: Australia vs West Indies (Trent Bridge).
June 7: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Bristol).
June 8: England vs Bangladesh (Cardiff); New Zealand vs Afghanistan (Taunton, D/N).
June 9: Australia vs India (The Oval).
June 10: South Africa vs West Indies (Southampton).
June 11: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (Bristol).
June 12: Australia vs Pakistan (Taunton).
June 13: India vs New Zealand (Trent Bridge).
June 14: England vs West Indies (Southampton).
June 15: Australia vs Sri Lanka (The Oval); South Africa vs Afghanistan (Cardiff, D/N).
June 16: India vs Pakistan (Old Trafford).
June 17: Bangladesh vs West Indies (Taunton).
June 18: England vs Afghanistan (Old Trafford).
June 19: New Zealand vs South Africa (Edgbaston).
June 20: Australia vs Bangladesh (Trent Bridge).
June 21: England vs Sri Lanka (Headingley).
June 22: India vs Afghanistan (Southampton); New Zealand vs West Indies (Old Trafford, D/N).
June 23: Pakistan vs South Africa (Lord’s).
June 24: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (Southampton).
June 25: England vs Australia (Lord’s).
June 26: Pakistan vs New Zealand (Edgbaston).
June 27: India vs West Indies (Old Trafford).
June 28: South Africa vs Sri Lanka

(Chester-le-Street).

June 29: Pakistan vs Afghanistan (Headingley); Australia vs New Zealand (Lord’s, D/N).
June 30: England vs India (Edgbaston).
July 1: Sri Lanka vs West Indies (Chester-le-Street).
July 2: India vs Bangladesh (Edgbaston).
July 3: England vs New Zealand (Chester-le-Street).
July 4: West Indies vs Afghanistan (Headingley).
July 5: Pakistan vs Bangladesh (Lord’s, D/N).
July 6: India vs Sri Lanka (Headingley); Australia vs South Africa (Old Trafford, D/N).
July 7: Rest day.
July 8: Rest day.
July 9: First semi-final — Team No. 1 vs Team No. 4 (Old Trafford).
July 10: Reserve day.
July 11: Second semi-final — Team No. 1 vs Team No. 4 (Edgbaston).
July 12: Reserve day.
July 14: Final (Lord’s).
July 15: Reserve day.—Agencies

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2018