Six Caribbean cricket stadiums will serve as
match venues for this year’s June 1 – 29, 2024
ICC T20 World Cup. Commencing with this
December Issue, and continuing through to this
coming May, Wickets will feature each of the six
venues in alphabetical order. Antigua’s Sir Vivian
Richards Stadium is the first to be featured as
follows!
The new home of cricket in Antigua following
the 2007 ICC World Cup, and named after
one of cricket’s all-time greats, the Sir Vivian
Richards Cricket Ground (SVRCG) is a purpose built
stadium. It replaced the famous Antigua
Recreation Ground as the national cricket
stadium in Antigua.
Dominated by the North and five-storey South
stands, the venue also features grass terraces
on either side of the wicket for different viewing
experiences. In 2015, after the knighthoods for Sir
Curtly Ambrose and Sir Andy Robbers, the North
and South ends were renamed respectively.
Known locally as North Sound SVRCG was built for
use in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where it hosted
Super 8 matches. The stadium usually caters for
10,000 people, but temporary seating doubled its
capacity for the 2007 World Cup.
SVRCG is located about 10–20 minutes’ drive
from the capital city, St. John’s, and the
country’s international airport. The venue cost
approximately US$60 million to build, with the
majority of the funds coming from a Chinese
Government grant. The first Test match staged
on the ground began on 30 May 2008 when
the West Indies hosted Australia, with the
match ending in a draw. SVRCG hosted its
first-ever T20I on May 19, 2020 with the West
Indies taking on South Africa. Its most recent
T20I was played on November 13, 2021,
between Argentina and Canada.
SVRCG will host eight matches during this
year’s ICC 2024 T20 World Cup. Four of the
hosted matches will be Preliminary Round
Group stage encounters. The remaining four
matches will be exciting Super 8 knockout
round matches.
The Sunday June 9 match between Oman
and Scotland will be the first of SVRCG’s
2024 T20 World Cup fixtures. Australia against
Namibia on Tuesday, June 11 will be SVRCG’s
second Group Stage fixture to be followed by
England vs Oman on June 13. The June 19,
Namibia versus England encounter will be the
last of SVRCG’s four Group stage matches.
June 19, 20, 22 and 24 are the dates for
SVRCG’s hosted Super 8 Knockout Stage
matches. The top four teams from which
will proceed to the semi-finals to be held in
Guyana and Trinidad, The 2024 T20 World
Cup Final will be held on Saturday, June 29 at
Barbados’ iconic Kensington Oval.