Nassau County is gearing up for International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup

The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium is starting to take form in Eisenhower Park, right in the heart of East Meadow. The temporary, modular 34,000 seat venue will serve as one of the hosting locations for the 2024 International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup, set to take place this June.

In a lavish parade on March 19, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman was joined by ICC officials and renowned cricketers to officially bring the World Cup’s trophy to one of the home’s of the upcoming tournament. Games will also take place in Florida, Texas and the West Indies.

The trophy was transported through an American Flag arch, set up by the East Meadow Fire Department, and escorted by the Nassau County Police Department, dozens of emergency vehicles, bagpipers and the county’s mounted unit.

“We are in the process of constructing this beautiful stadium that will be here for the duration of the tournament,” Blakeman told news reporters, while standing in the stadium’s construction site. “It’s going to be a great venue for everybody to enjoy cricket. There’ll be so many countries that will be here with their teams — we will have fans from all over the world.”

Blakeman again reiterated that Nassau County — and in particular Eisenhower Park — is used to hosting events of this size. Last summer, the park accommodated 40,000 people for a free, Boyz II Men concert.

Currently, 8 games are slated to be played in East Meadow, over the course of 12 days in early June. There are talks of an exhibition match also being played in the stadium, although nothing is scheduled as of yet. Nassau County will host one of the most highly anticipated games of the tournament, India versus Pakistan. The countries consistently field some of the best cricketers in the world.

The Cricket World Cup is the second most popular sporting event in the world.

“We call it the Super Bowl on steroids,” Blakeman said. “We’re going to have many days of great competition here with great athletes.”

The stadium was designed by Populous, an architecture firm also responsible for creating Yankee Stadium, Citi Field and the UBS Arena, among others. The initiative is privately funded.

It’s being built in the open space behind park’s aquatic center, adjacent to Field 6.

Tickets for the games have been thus far been hard to obtain, but ICC officials at the news conference said fans may still be able to secure some at Tickets.T20WorldCup.com. Blakeman said for those unable to purchase tickets, the county will be setting up watch parties in various locations, with world class entertainment. Locations of these watch parties will be announced at a later date.

As part of county negotiations with the ICC, the stadium will be disassembled after the tournament, but the state-of-the-art cricket field will be left in place, along with practice facilities in Cantiague Park in Hicksville. Blakeman said local cricket teams and leagues will be able to use the fields when the tournament ends.

“Cricket is here forever now,” Blakeman said.

Those interested in attending or learning more about the tournament can visit NassauCountyNY.gov/cricket.