The International Cricket Council on Tuesday (November 16) confirmed the venues for the 2022 edition of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, slated to be held in Australia.

Seven Australian cities, including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, will host the showpiece tournament from October 16 to November 13.

The other two cities which will host the Round 1 matches include Geelong and Hobart while the final will be played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“The event which is scheduled to take place between 16 October and 13 November next year will see a total of 45 matches hosted across Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney,” ICC press release stated.

The semi-finals will be staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Adelaide Oval on November 9 and 10, respectively.

From the 12 teams that made the Super 12 stage in T20 World Cup 2021, eight will go straight through to the Super 12 next year.

Two-time champions West Indies have failed to make the cut and those eight teams include hosts Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

Apart from West Indies, 2021 Super 12 teams Sri Lanka, Namibia, and Scotland will also start next year’s tournament by playing the qualifying round.

The final four spots for the tournament will be filled via two qualifying tournaments – one in Oman in February and the other in Zimbabwe in June/July.

“With 12 teams already confirmed in the line-up, we eagerly await the culmination of the qualification process to see which other teams will join them,” Head of Events, Chris Tetley, said in the media release.

“We are looking forward to seeing the return of ICC events to Australia and are delighted to announce the seven host cities for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Following the success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 and a two year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event in collaboration with the Local Organising Committee.”

(With ICC inputs)