Nassau County International Cricket Stadium
| Address | 1899 Park Boulevard East Meadow, New York 11554 U.S. |
|---|---|
| Public transit | NICE: n70 (Hempstead Tpke at East Meadow Plaza)[1] |
| Operator | T20 World Cup USA, Inc. |
| Seating type | Stadium seating |
| Capacity | 34,000 |
| Surface | Kentucky bluegrass |
| Construction | |
| Architect | Populous |
| Builder |
|
| Ground information | |
| Tenants | 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup |
| End names | |
| n/a n/a | |
| International information | |
| As of 26 January 2024 Source: Cricinfo | |
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium is a cricket ground being constructed on the grounds of Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, on Long Island.
It is being constructed as a modular, temporary venue for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, during which it will host eight matches. Following the tournament, the modular architecture will be removed, leaving only the field. The venue will be overseen by T20 World Cup USA—the host committee representing matches hosted in the United States during the tournament.[2]
Background[edit]
In November 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup would be played in the West Indies and the United States.[3] A joint bid was submitted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket following two years of preparation, forming part of a strategic partnership between the two associations.[4][5]
In July 2023, the ICC shortlisted four venues in the United States, which included Lauderhill, Florida (Central Broward Park); Morrisville, North Carolina (Church Street Park); Grand Prairie, Texas (Grand Prairie Stadium); and New York City (Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx).[6] However, the proposed site was criticized by Bronx residents; a group known as the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance was opposed to the venue, citing potential ecological impact, and concerns over the tournament preventing public access to the park for an extended period.[7][8]
On September 22, 2023, the ICC announced that the three U.S. tournament sites would be Fort Lauderdale, Grand Prairie, and a temporary, 34,000-seat stadium at Eisenhower Park on Long Island.[9][10][11]
The need for a temporary stadium was necessitated by the relative lack of cricket stadiums in the United States, and especially in the New York City area—the United States' most populous region;[2][12] cricket has usually been considered a niche, international sport, with its most prominent fanbase coming from the diaspora of regions (particularly South Asia) where cricket is considered a mainstream sport.[13]
Design and construction[edit]
The stadium's design was unveiled by the ICC on January 17, 2024, with construction beginning that week. Designed by Populous, it will utilize a modular architecture, constructed by Arena Event Services, and reuse grandstands that had previously been deployed for events such as golf tournaments and Formula One's Las Vegas Grand Prix.[14][15][12]
The stadium's outfield, drainage and pitch construction is being overseen by LandTek Group—a company that has worked on playing surfaces for New York's Citi Field and Yankee Stadium, and various NFL stadiums. The outfield will use Kentucky bluegrass, and the drop-in pitch will use Tahoma bermudagrass surfaces prepared in Florida in consultation with the Adelaide Oval's head groundskeeper Damian Hough. The pitches posed particular challenges due to the limited timeframe, and the logstical aspects of the construction process; six of the ten trays needed to be shipped from Adelaide, the grass had to be grown in Florida's warmer climate due to New York's cold winter, and the pitches will have to be transported by semi-trailers with protective blankets to protect them the grass and soil from wind and the different climate conditions along the East Coast. Hough noted that "I've never moved a pitch further than from Adelaide Oval to Karen Rolton Oval, so moving them for two days on a fleet of semi-trailers certainly throws up a few different issues."[16][2]
The stadium is expected to be completed in May 2024, and begin hosting warm-ups and testing in the week of May 14. It will host its first tournament match on June 3, between South Africa and Sri Lanka.[12][17] Following the tournament, the stands and modular infrastructure will be taken down by the end of July, leaving the cricket ground intact. The natural grass pitch will be replaced by artificial turf to ease maintenance.[12][2]
Despite the short turnaround time between completion and its first match, ICC head of events Chris Tetley stated that he was confident in the project due to his trust in the companies involved, and that warm-up events would allow the organizers to "know from an operational perspective how all of the functional teams that will come together to run the stadium need to interact on an event day with people coming through the turnstiles."[12] ESPNcricinfo observed that the Nassau County stadium would likely be the first venue to have ever hosted an ICC event without having previously hosted an international match beforehand.[12]
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup matches[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Nassau County International Cricket Stadium". Stadiums World.
- ^ a b c d e Spangler, Nicholas (April 1, 2024). "Creating the perfect stadium, playing surface critical to June's T20 World Cup cricket matches on Long Island". Newsday. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "USA to stage T20 World Cup: 2024–2031 ICC Men's tournament hosts confirmed". International Cricket Council. November 16, 2021. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
- ^ "Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket hail successful joint bid to host ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2024". USA Cricket. November 16, 2021. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
- ^ Little, Archie (April 7, 2023). "ICC Inspects USA Venues For Cricket's T20 World Cup". Boxscore World Sportswire. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
- ^ Gollapudi, Nagraj (July 28, 2023). "Next Men's T20 World Cup set to be played from June 4 to 30, 2024". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Custodio, Jonathan (August 21, 2023). "Dozens of Bronx Groups Object to 34,000-Seat Cricket Stadium in Van Cortlandt Park". THE CITY – NYC News. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Overmyer, Steve (September 1, 2023). "Temporary stadium to be built in the Bronx for Cricket World Cup, sparking mixed reactions from community". CBS New York. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ "State of the art Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York unveiled ahead of Men's T20 World Cup". www.icc-cricket.com. March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ Botello, Camille (September 20, 2023). "Cricket stadium opponents relieved with ICC's decision to nix Van Cortlandt Park proposal, opt for Long Island site". Bronx Times. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Solis, Marcus (September 20, 2023). "Cricket T20 World Cup venue to be built in Nassau County, not Bronx like first proposed". ABC7 New York. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f Gollapudi, Nagraj (January 17, 2024). "ICC confirms New York's Eisenhower Park will not host international games before T20 WC". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ Nerkar, Santul (October 23, 2024). "Media Companies Eye Cricket-Loving Diaspora in the U.S." The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ McCormick, Bret (January 18, 2024). "ICC unveils N.Y.'s T20 World Cup cricket stadium". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ^ Spangler, Nicholas (January 18, 2024). "Nassau unveils renderings of 34,000-seat cricket stadium for World Cup tournament at Eisenhower Park". Newsday.
- ^ Ramsey, Andrew (April 10, 2024). "Inside Adelaide's pioneering role in New York's World Cup pitch". Cricket.com.au. Cricket Australia. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ Sánchez, Jesus Lopez (March 6, 2024). "Nassau Cricket Stadium marks first month of construction with timelapse". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved March 30, 2024.