The Mall set to crown opening of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Opening Party is set to take place on the iconic London Mall on the evening of 29 May ahead of the opening fixture between hosts England and South Africa at The Oval on 30 May

•    The Opening Party will feature a live global TV broadcast between 5-6pm BST and a select group of lucky fans will attend the event to enjoy live music, sport and entertainment 

•    4000 tickets will be available to fans via a ballot which will open on 4 April at 10am BST via www.cricketworldcup.com/opening-party and will close on 1 May at 10am BST

 
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will launch with a bang as London’s iconic Mall plays host to a spectacular Opening Party on the eve of the event. 4000 fans and a global live broadcast audience will be treated to a music and sporting spectacular on 29 May in what will be the most celebrated start to a Cricket World Cup ever. 

The ‘not-to-be-missed’ live broadcast Opening Party will be a mix of music, dance and some of the biggest names in sport with a winner takes all sporting competition. The glittering event organised in partnership with The Royal Parks within the backdrop of Buckingham Palace, will be live broadcast around the world between 5-6pm British Summer Time with an audience of spectators at the ticket only event.  

Fans around the world will get to enjoy the Opening Party too. It will be broadcast live across multiple territories taking the official opening of cricket’s 50-over pinnacle event to homes and communities of millions of global cricket fans.

Tickets will be allocated through a ballot system and applications will open at 10am British Summer Time on Thursday 4 April via www.cricketworldcup.com/opening-party and will close at 10am British Summer Time on 1 May with winners being notified on 7 May. Subject to success, each applicant will be limited to two free tickets to ensure a fair process across the ballot stage and tickets will not be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. Fans without tickets will not be able to attend the live event on The Mall.

Steve Elworthy, Managing Director at ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, said: "The Opening Party will capture the very essence of what makes this tournament so special and will be hugely exciting for the fans that are lucky enough to attend but also across broadcast we will show the world what they have to look forward to over the next 45 days of cricket action. 

“The Mall, with Buckingham Palace in the background, is synonymous with some of the biggest events held in the UK and is instantly recognisable to everyone around the globe. It will be a fitting celebration of a World Cup, cricket and sport with diversity at its core.”

Interest in tickets for the 48 matches at the tournament has been unprecedented with over 3 million ticket applications from 148 countries across six continents truly showing the global appeal of the Cricket World Cup.

Alun Mainwaring, Head of Events and Filming at The Royal Parks, said: “The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Opening Party will be a unique and spectacular way to kick off this incredible tournament.

“Millions of people around the world will be watching the excitement unfold in central London and we are honored to be a part of it.”

More information on tickets and the opening party can be found here: T&Cs & FAQs

ABOUT THE ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2019

•    The tournament will run from 30 May to 14 July. The semi-finals will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester and Edgbaston in Birmingham on 9 and 11 July respectively, while Lord’s will host the final on 14 July. 
•    11 venues across England and Wales will be used, namely Cardiff Wales Stadium in Cardiff (four matches), Bristol County Ground in Bristol (three matches), County Ground Taunton in Taunton (three matches), Edgbaston in Birmingham (five matches, including the second semi-final), Hampshire Bowl in Southampton (five matches), Headingley in Leeds (four matches), Lord’s in London (five matches, including the final), Old Trafford in Manchester (six matches, including the first semi-final), The Oval in London (five matches, including the tournament opener), The Riverside Durham in Chester-le-Street (three matches) and Trent Bridge in Nottingham (five matches)
•    The 10 teams in the tournament will play against each other in a single-league format, with the top four sides after 45 matches to qualify for the two semi-finals
•    England and Wales have previously staged ICC Cricket World Cups in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999
•    Australia is the most successful team in the history of the World Cup, having won events in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. The West Indies won the first two editions in 1975 and 1979, while India won in 1983 and 2011. Other winners are Pakistan in 1992 and Sri Lanka in 1996

ABOUT THE ROYAL PARKS 

The Royal Parks is the charity that exists to make sure London’s eight historic royal parks will always be there to enrich the lives of local residents and visitors to London.
This recently-created charity does this by:
•    Sensitively and sustainably protecting and conserving the heritage landscapes of the parks
•    Adding value to every visit by providing information and opportunities to find out more about the historic significance of the parks and the wildlife that lives in them today
•    Supporting and encouraging the development of biodiversity in the parks
•    Encouraging visitors to support their physical and mental health by using the parks for relaxation and exercise

It costs £40m a year to manage the parks. The charity raises around 75 per cent of this money itself, with the remaining 25 per cent coming from Government.

For further information please visit: www.royalparks.org.uk and follow us on @theroyalparks, Facebook.com/TheRoyalParksLondon and Instagram.com/TheRoyalParks.

FOR MORE DETAILS CONTACT
 
Michael Gibson – Corporate Communications Manager, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019
Mob: +44 7585 987 662
Email: michael.gibson@cwc19.co.uk