Which Australian cities will host the T20 World Cup 2022?

The next T20 World Cup will be played in seven Australian cities in October-November 2022, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement.

The event which is scheduled to take place between October 16 and November 13 next year will see a total of 45 matches hosted across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

The event’s final will be hosted under lights at the MCG on November 13 while the semi-finals will be hosted at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Adelaide Oval on November 9 and 10, respectively.

Champions Australia and runner-up New Zealand plus Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa as the next highest-ranked teams will gain direct entry into the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

Namibia, Scotland, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will play in Round 1.

The four remaining spots at Australia 2022 will be filled via the ongoing qualification pathway, culminating in two global qualifying tournaments one to take place in Oman in February and the other in Zimbabwe in June/July.

Commenting on the announcement, ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said: “We are looking forward to seeing the return of ICC events to Australia and are delighted to announce the seven host cities for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Following the success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 and a two year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event in collaboration with the LOC.

With 12 teams already confirmed in the line-up, Tetley said they eagerly await the culmination of the qualification process to see which other teams will join them.