Canberra has been announced as a Host City for the ICC World T20 2020 (WT20 2020) women’s cricket tournament in February and March 2020.
Canberra has been allocated five women’s group stage matches at Manuka Oval as part of the WT20 2020, which will mark the first time this prestigious tournament has been played in Australia. The scheduling of the women’s competition as a standalone event will ensure it is promoted and staged as a major global event in its own right.
The WT20, the ‘World Cup’ of T20 cricket, is the ultimate prize in the fastest growing and most accessible format of the game – which continues to attract new, more diverse and younger audiences all around the world.
The women’s competition will feature the 10 best women’s teams, all competing to be crowned world champions – and will showcase the superstars of the game.
Canberra’s proud and successful involvement with the sport of cricket aligns neatly with a local appetite for world-class cricket content. This was highlighted during Women’s Ashes T20 matches played at Manuka Oval in 2017, which attracted the highest attendances for the Series, and more recently during a fantastic spectacle on 24 January when the Big Bash League (BBL) and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) returned to the nation’s capital.
Anticipation is also high ahead of Canberra’s historic first Test cricket match which will occur in the summer of 2018-19.
Hosting women’s matches as part of the WT20 2020 will deliver extensive international media coverage and profiling opportunities for Canberra through the tournament’s global broadcast, which will serve to further enhance Canberra’s reputation as a world-class events and tourism destination.
Visitors from interstate and overseas – including spectators, players, sponsors, media and match officials – will provide a tourism boost for the Canberra region, while generating economic impacts through their associated destination spending.
Canberra’s role in the tournament will also stimulate a range of flow-on social and community benefits in the form of enhanced city vibrancy, community pride and opportunities for local engagement and participation. In addition, Canberra’s standing as a leader for promotion of women’s sport will also be significantly enhanced.
The Host City announcement marks the first major public announcement in relation to the WT20 2020 and comes as a pre-cursor to a comprehensive communications and marketing campaign that will run in conjunction with the tournament.
Fixtures will be announced and tickets will go on sale in 2019 following the cut-off dates for team qualification in 2018. In the meantime, fans and industry are encouraged to sign up at icc-cricket.com/world-t20 for more information and regular updates.