2023 Cricket World Cup

The **2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup** is the 13th edition of the Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is being hosted by India. It started on 5 October and is scheduled to conclude on 19 November 2023. Pakistan were the defending champions, having won the 2019 edition by defeating England in the final.

Ten national teams are participating. All had to qualify for the tournament through the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process. India qualified as hosts; Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa qualified via the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe securing the final two places via the qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe during June and July 2023. The West Indies missed out on qualification for the first time in their history.

The top seven placed teams in the tournament's final points table, along with Pakistan, who are hosts, will qualify for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, the next ICC ODI tournament.

## Background

Originally, the competition was to be played from 9 February to 26 March 2023. In July 2020 it was announced that that the tournament would be moved to October and November as a result of the qualification schedule being disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ICC released the tournament schedule on 27 June 2023.

This is the first ICC World Cup in which penalties for slow over-rates will be given to bowling sides if they do not complete their 50 overs in the stipulated time. On-field umpires can penalise the bowling team by not allowing more than four fielders outside the 30-yard circle.

## Qualification

Like the previous World Cup, the tournament will feature 10 teams. The main route for qualification was, however, through the new ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, a series of matches played between 2020 and 2023 rather than the ODI rankings. The top eight of the 13 sides in the Super League qualified for the World Cup automatically, although as hosts India, who finished fourth, were guaranteed a place. In June and July 2023, the bottom five teams from the Super League and the top five ranked associate sides competed in the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier for the remaining two places.

As a result of the qualifying process, the competition is the first not to include former winners West Indies, who failed to progress from the qualifying process. Full Member Ireland missed out on qualification as well.

 ICC Super League
New Zealand
Bangladesh
England
Australia
Afghanistan
 Qualifier
Zimbabwe

## Venues

The tournament is taking place in ten different stadiums, situated in ten different cities across India. The first and second semi-finals will be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Eden Gardens in Kolkata respectively, while the final will take place at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The BCCI has provided funding for renovations and refurbishments at stadiums. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium received a new grass surface, drainage system, seating, and hospitality boxes. Wankhede Stadium had upgrades to the outfield, floodlights, corporate boxes, and toilets. M. A. Chidambaram Stadium installed new floodlights and relaid two wickets.

With the autumn scheduling of this World Cup, the ICC instituted protocols for reducing the impact of moisture—including dew and rain—on pitch conditions, so that they do not give the team batting second an advantage (as had frequently occurred in the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup). These include using a specific wetting agent, and the boundary set at around 70 m (77 yards) at each stadium, with more grass on the pitch to encourage seam bowling over spin bowling.

## Prize Money

The ICC allocated a pool of US$10 million in prize money for the tournament, with payouts remaining the same as the 2019 and 2015 tournaments:

## Warm Up Matches

Warm-up matches were held from 29 September to 3 October 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati, and Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.

**29 September 14:00 Bangladesh 324/8 (50) Australia 326/4 (48.4) - Australia won by 6 wickets**

**29 September 14:00 New Zealand 298/3 (42.4) South Africa 294 (36.2) - New Zealand won by 7 wickets**

**29 September 14:00 Sri Lanka 197/8 (50) Pakistan 198/0 (24.6) - Pakistan won by 10 wickets**

**30 September 14:00 India 206/6 (25) England 221/2 (25) - England won by 15 runs - Game was reduced to 25 overs each due to rain**

**30 September 14:00 Zimbabwe 241/2 (50) Afhganistan 242/6 (50) - Afghanistan won by 1 run**

## References

1. ↑ England vs. Pakistan: 2019 Cricket World Cup Final Scorecard
2. ↑ 2023 CWC Qualifier: Devastated West Indies team as they fail to qualify for CWC for the first time in their history
3. ↑ 2025 ICC Champions Trophy: 2023 CWC will determine qualification for the next ICC ODI Tournament
4. ↑ 2023 Cricket World Cup: Tournament to be delayed to October and November due to Pandemic
5. ↑ 2023 CWC: New Qualification cycle include Super League
6. ↑ 2023 CWC: Rule Changes for the 13th edition of the CWC
7. ↑ 2023 CWC: Prize Money revealed
8. ↑ CWC Warm Up Matches: Locations