Cricket’s expansion into the United States of America (USA) will gain much impetus with matches being hosted there during the T20 World Cup in June 2024. With Major League Cricket (MLC) already having taken root, these are exciting times for US cricket, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) is hoping to cash in with the help of purpose-built modular stadiums. The centre piece of this project will be in New York State’s Nassau County. A 34,000-seat stadium will be assembled from scratch at a sports park, with the turf to be made ready by consultants who work with both American Football and soccer.
According to an ICC source, administrators and cricket enthusiasts in Nassau County have been “extraordinarily supportive” of the plan. The county already boasts the famed “Red” golf course, and has hosted big-ticket PGA events in the past. Situated just half an hour away from Manhattan, it will also make for a relatively straightforward commute for teams based at the venue.
The ICC already has plans to upgrade the existing facilities in the USA, in time for the start of the tournament, but the use of a modular stadium opens up possibilities that didn’t exist before. “We’re looking at events like this year’s Ryder Cup (golf), to be played in Italy later this month,” said the source. “The seating for that will be almost entirely modular, and they’ll be expecting a lot more than 34,000 people. The advantage with such a structure is also that you can arrange it however you want.”
One of the concerns about the existing US venues was the seating capacity. With Nassau County as the flagship project, such worries could soon be a think of the past. ‘It allows us to take cricket where it’s not been before,” said the source. “These are very exciting times.”