London is a city well known for its sporting prowess. From Wembley Stadium to the Olympic Park, there are countless famous stories about sport in London. With so many important sporting events taking place in the city, one which is often forgotten about is the upcoming Cricket World Cup, attracting hundreds of thousands of cricket enthusiasts to the city this year, this will be the first time the Cricket World Cup has been in London since 1999, and will also span across many other parts of the UK. With its central location, if you’re staying at the Park Grand London Kensington, then you’ll find your perfectly placed to get to the two Cricket stadiums in London, alongside finding the best spots in the city to watch the action on big screens and in classic British pubs. However long your visiting London for during the Cricket World Cup, here’s everything you need to know to get the most out of your visit.
The Cricket World Cup
Having been held every 4 years since 1975, the cricket world cup pits a wide range of cricketing countries against each other. With many being former colonies of the UK, its easy to see the historical significance of the tournament, and with his year hosting only 10 teams, down from last years 14, this world cup will be an intimate and intense affair.
The Oval
Based in the Lambeth area of London, the Oval is one of the two London venues for the Cricket world cup. With a capacity of 25,500 people and based in South London, this stadium will host five of the matches over the course of the competition. The Oval is the county cricket home of the Surrey Cricket Club.
Lords
The largest of the 11 cricket grounds, Lord’s will host five matches including the final, and can hold up to 28,000 spectators. With Middlesex as its county cricket club, the Lords stadium is easily reachable from the Park Grand London Hyde Park via the Picadilly Line and Jubilee Line. Furthermore, Lord’s Cricket Ground has a rich history of cricketing tradition, and dates to the year 1814.
World Cup opening party on May 29th
If you’re taking advantage of the 4 star London hotels special offers during the first weekend of the Cricket World Cup, then hurry online and enter the ballot for the Opening Ceremony at the Mall in London. With over 4000 tickets available, the World Cup opening party will be a celebration filled with music and colour, parading the participating teams through the centre of the city just a stone’s throw away from hotels near Hyde Park.
Other UK cities hosting the world cup
It’s not just London hosting the world cup. There are nine other stadiums across the country which are hosting the tournament. The cities participating include Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Durham, Nottingham, South Hampton and Bristol.
Watching the Cricket World Cup in London
If you’re visiting London and can’t find or afford tickets to the Cricket World Cup, all is not lost for those financially stretched cricket nuts. There are plenty of pubs and sports bars across the city which will be showing the matches. Being aired on the BBC, all TV license holding households will be able to watch the Cricket World Cup this year.
