Big Apple realities, building on foundations elsewhere: A look at New York, Dallas and Lauderhill venues for the T20 World Cup

By Daniel Beswick

In 1844 the old St George’s Cricket Club, then of Manhattan, hosted the first international cricket match ever recorded. Thirty kilometres down the road, now down the Long Island Expressway almost 180 years later, another first is to come for a city with multiple historic cricketing quirks.

June 3 will be a day of destiny at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, as Sri Lanka and South Africa belt out national anthems in front of a potential crowd of 34,000, the buildings of the Big Apple a backdrop fitting of a T20 World Cup.

The match is one of eight hosted by the pop-up cricket ground in a 10-day cricketing blitz up until June 12, with the ground hosting India and Pakistan in another global event meeting, among other important first-round matches to kick-start the tournament.

“This stadium is beautiful. (It’s) stunning to think this wasn't even here just a few short months ago and now they're able to build this out,” well-known New York sporting personality Victor Cruz remarked having been invited to the ground ahead of the tournament.

“It looks incredible. The seating looks great. I feel like people are going to have a lot of fun here.”

A Super Bowl-winning wide receiver for the New York Giants in the NFL, Cruz was revered in the parochial sporting city for his spectacular catches and shaking past would-be tacklers. Having won over those who braved snow and cutting winds through his athletic play-making and his Salsa Dance touchdown celebration, he believes international cricketers, who may be new to the local audience, can do the same.

“New York sports fans are the best. They just understand energy. They know how to bring the fiery vibes to their team, they’re maniacal about their teams," he noted.

“Well I think it’s just the overall intrigue (cricket in New York), right? They want to know what it's about. They want to learn the rules. They want to see it in person.

“So I think being able to see it with their own eyes in action would change their perspective."

Cruz would know a bit about pressure as a player, though spare a thought for the man with the unenviable task of curating a world-class wicket at a new turf site in a unique climate, inevitably with millions watching every delivery in intrigue.

With the outfield delivered by the LandTek Group, an organisation who have worked with both of New York’s Major League Baseball teams and Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer franchise owned by David Beckham and headlined by legend Lionel Messi, the square has been prepared by Adelaide Oval Turf Solutions and their head curator Damian Hough.

Few are better-credentialed than Hough, having overseen the gold standard South Australian facility since the 2013 redevelopment.

Underlining the bold project, pitches for the square were prepared south in Florida in warmer conditions, with 20 semi-trailer trucks then used to transport the pitches almost 2000 kilometres.

As if dropping the wickets in the middle of a ground after a trip through at least six US states and around 20 hours on the road wasn’t remarkable enough, Hough wants to put on a show.

“The games in New York are a great platform for us to showcase our abilities to a global audience,” Hough told ICC in the build-up to the tournament.

“Florida proved to be the ideal nursery for the pitches with good weather, and working alongside great partners like LandTek has been fantastic and everything is coming together as it should.

“It’s certainly a massive thrill for everyone at Adelaide Oval to be involved in such a huge event."

Bemoaned in their infancy, drastic technological improvements alongside research and development over the last five to 10 years has seen drop-in pitches play host to vibrant international cricket. Looking ahead, Hough hopes to bring life to New York action.

"We hope we have got a good T20 pitch, that has good pace, good bounce and (provides) value for shots," Hough said.

"You want the batters to be able to play shots all over the ground so that is our design and at the start our ambition was to produce pitches along those lines.

"Everything is going to plan, they (the pitches) are in real good condition and all of our benchmarks and measures that we take along the way are exceeding expectations.”

Finally, in terms of progress beyond the boundary, it is the speed of the grandstand build that fans around the world and Cruz are so impressed by.

The temporary stands designed by Populous was raced up in the space of three months, and is ready for the 27 May test event.

Limited general admission tickets remain available for the opening match in New York, and tickets inclusive of food and beverage are also available for all games in Nassau County, including India against Pakistan. Fans should not miss out on a chance to be a part of history with the first ICC World Cup matches being played in New York. Visit tickets.t20worldcup.com for details or email [hospitality@t20worldcup.com] (mailto: hospitality@t20worldcup.com).

Though as Sri Lanka and South Africa compete for a piece of history and important tournament points on the road to a T20 World Cup trophy in New York, the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas will already have bragging rights as a T20 World Cup venue, having played host to another chapter in USA and Canada’s cricketing rivalry.

Fans of the game in emerging circles will have seen the success of the Grand Prairie facility, largely through a new wave of domestic cricket in the country. In a hotbed region by the game’s standards in the USA, the purpose-built cricket ground was converted from a Minor League Baseball stadium in 2020, and hosted Minor League Cricket team the Dallas Mustangs, as well as part of the first Major League's inaugural season in 2023 .

The upper level behind home plate in the old baseball complex was kept, and now stands on the backward square-leg/cover boundary. The lower bowl around the ground was rebuilt to fit dimensions of a cricket ground with an oval shape, though the boundaries towards the structures kept from the original baseball site are slightly smaller.

On top of the tournament's opening fixture, the North American battle between the hosts and Canada on 1 June, the venue will host a further three matches between 4 June and 7 June.

To the east, the Central Broward Park and Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, also plays hosts to four matches, from 11 June to 16 June.

A familiar site for those who follow the Caribbean Premier League and international fixtures of both American and West Indian teams, the venue has hosted T20Is since 2010. From teams preparing for the T20 World Cup in the same year and quasi-hosts West Indies taking on New Zealand, India and Bangladesh in different series over the years, the USA have also played numerous ODIs at the venue and hosted Ireland in a December 2021 series.

USA and Ireland claimed a match from each other when they met, before Ireland travelled to the Caribbean.

In the build-up to the tournament, the ground has undergone an $8.4 million renovation.

Resodding was completed in February, with the cricket block expanded to six pitches, completed in house with assistance from council maintenance. The practice facilities were also upgraded, as well as grandstand upgrades to cater for the anticipated crowds.

New York T20 World Cup Fixtures

Sri Lanka vs South Africa: June 3

India vs Ireland: June 5

Netherlands vs South Africa: June 7

India vs Pakistan: June 9

South Africa vs Bangladesh: June 10

Pakistan vs Canada: June 11

USA vs India: June 12

Grand Prairie T20 World Cup Fixtures

USA vs Canada: June 1

Netherlands vs Nepal: June 4

USA vs Pakistan: June 6

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: June 7

Lauderhill T20 World Cup Fixtures

Sri Lanka vs Nepal, June 11

USA vs Ireland, June 14

India vs Canada, June 15

Pakistan vs Ireland, June 16

Limited tickets remain available for all matches in New York, including access to the Premium Club and the exclusive Diamond Club, where fans can rub shoulders with the legends of the game in the best seats in the house. Watch India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh, Canada, Ireland and our hosts USA and be part of history at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. Visit tickets.t20worldcup.com to get your tickets.