Global cricket set for its biggest stage yet with ambition

The T20 World Cup starts in the US this weekend and, while the Caribbean is hosting more games, there is little doubt where the potential for growth lies

Spread across six Caribbean countries and the United States of America, where some folks believe sits gold in them thar hills, the men’s T20 World Cup that whirs into life in Dallas on Saturday night may well be cricket’s most ambitious global event to date.

It certainly feels the most inclusive of any format, men or women. A record 20 teams start in four groups of five – no preliminary qualifier here – and first-timers USA, Canada and Uganda are among nine associate nations. Then there are the logistics, be it the zig-zagging travel – organisers liaising with seven separate governments – or the mind-bending 34,000-seat modular stadium on Long Island, New York that has been rapidly assembled like an Ikea flat-pack on steroids.