2019 World Cup: London Stadium not one of 11 tournament venues

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Morgan 'not terribly disappointed' by London Stadium omission

London Stadium will not host any World Cup matches next summer.

The England and Wales Cricket Board was considering high-capacity venues to host the 50-over competition in 2019, but the home of West Ham is not one of the 11 grounds named.

Lord's will host the final on 14 July, while the semi-finals will be played at Old Trafford and Edgbaston.

England play the first match of the tournament against South Africa at The Oval on 30 May.

Australia begin their title defence in a day-night match against Afghanistan on 1 June in Bristol.

The tournament, which features 10 teams playing nine round-robin matches, runs from 30 May to 14 July.

The 60,000-seat London Stadium is much larger than any UK cricket ground - Lord's has the highest capacity of the World Cup venues with 30,000 seats.

The former Olympic Stadium was considered at the request of the International Cricket Council (ICC), who wanted to replicate the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which saw games held at large stadiums.

Steve Elworthy, the tournament's managing director, said they had done studies for 18 months to see what would be required to turn that venue into a cricket facility.

"I think the unique elements of what cricket needs, and what cricket wants, is a step too far," Elworthy told BBC Sport.

"Cricket hasn't been played there before. It was a tough decision but, I think, the right one."

England one-day captain Eoin Morgan said London Stadium's omission was "not terribly disappointing".

"We haven't played there before, an element of unpredictability might have crept in with no previous record at the ground," he said.

Four of the teams, England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, will not play any of the seven day-night matches, while New Zealand feature in four of them.

India will take on Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester, which is set to host six matches, on 16 June, while Bangladesh will feature in one of three matches at Taunton in Somerset.

"Because of the UK's diverse population, every competing team will also be guaranteed a 'home crowd' every time they play," Elworthy added.

More than 80,000 tickets are priced at £20, while child tickets for every match begin at £6.

England have never won a global 50-over competition, although they were beaten finalists in 1979, 1987 and 1992.

Afghanistan and West Indies beat Ireland and Scotland respectively to claim the final two places in next year's tournament.

2019 Cricket World Cup venues: Bristol, Cardiff, Chester-le-Street, Edgbaston (Birmingham), Headingley (Leeds), Lord's (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), The Oval (London), Taunton, Trent Bridge (Nottingham), Southampton.

ICC extends Twenty20 internationals - and replaces 2021 Champions Trophy

Among other announcements made by the ICC after its board meeting on Thursday:

  • All Twenty20 matches between ICC members - full and associate - will be accorded T20 international status from 1 July 2018 in women's cricket, and 1 January 2019 in men's cricket. The latter date is the cut-off point for qualification for the ICC World Twenty20 in 2020
  • The planned ICC Champions Trophy in 2021 will be replaced by another World T20 - the second in successive years, after the 2020 event - and will be hosted by India
  • ICC chief executive David Richardson says tougher punishments for player behaviour, such as ball-tampering, abuse and time-wasting, will be announced in June and July

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