Greater Long Island coverage is funded in part by Toresco & Simonelli, a boutique injury and family law firm in West Islip. They fight for their clients. Click here to learn more and to get in touch.
Cricket’s estimated one billion fans will have their eyes on Long Island this month.
That’s because East Meadow’s Eisenhower Park will host eight matches from June 3-12 of the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup.
The games will be played at a new temporary 34,000-seat arena called Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. The pop-up stadium, which has been in the works for the last few months, cost $30 million to build, according to the BBC. It will be dismantled after the tournament.
The first match on the Island will feature Sri Lanka facing off against South Africa on Monday.
A key match coming to Long Island is between cricket powerhouses and rival nations India and Pakistan, which will play each other on June 9. Tickets for that contest begin at $2,500 and can soar higher than $10,000 each. To see the full schedule and tickets, click here.
As a host nation, the U.S. automatically qualified for the World Cup for the first time. The American squad will play one match at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, facing India on June 12.
Due to recent security threats, parts of the park will be closed during the matches. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told the BBC that security measures will be heightened to levels akin to the “Super Bowl,” but “on steroids.”
Besides Long Island, matches are also set to be hosted in Florida, Texas, and parts of the Caribbean. The finals are scheduled for June 29 at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
How to watch
Each game is set to air exclusively on Willow TV, as well as streamed on Sling and DirecTV.
Top: Photo of inside the new Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. (GLI Photo)
