February 06, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 27, 1429

LONDON, Feb 5: Lord’s and The Oval have been nominated as two of the main venues to host next year’s ICC World Twenty20 Championship, with the ECB also recommending Lord’s to host the final.

After being chosen as the hosts of the second edition of the tournament, England have spent the past few months deciding on the venues to be used. The Oval has been chosen as a “preferred bidder” for the warm-ups, group and Super Eight matches and a semi-final.

“I am delighted that Lord’s, a world-class venue with a famous history and tradition, has agreed to be recommended hosts,” Steve Elworthy, the tournament director, said in Auckland on Monday.

“I was privileged to be director for [the] ICC World Twenty20 2007 in South Africa and thrilled at the success of the event which generated record crowds and also made broadcasting history in India with 1.4 billion viewers tuning in for the final.

“Now I am looking forward to the challenge of raising the standard of Twenty20 cricket even higher here in England and with Lord’s as a nominated venue and The Oval as a preferred bidder – as well as a third world class ground yet to be chosen – we have already got off to a great start.”

Keith Bradshaw, the MCC secretary and chief executive, added: “The MCC committee is extremely pleased, and I am personally delighted, at the ECB’s decision to recommend that the final and other matches in the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 be staged at Lord’s. It is bound to be an exciting and major global event, and MCC looks forward to contributing to its success.

“MCC has supported Twenty20 cricket – a form of the game which virtually every cricketer has played – since the county competition started a few years ago. At Lord’s, these matches have regularly attracted crowds of over 20,000, and I am looking forward to seeing the home of cricket full for the 2009 matches.”

The ECB will recommend Lord’s to the ICC at their meeting in Dubai on March 18.—Agencies