The grounds that will stage T20 games

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

The cricketing world is eagerly awaiting the Twenty20 World Cup tournament to be played in London and Nottinghamshire from June 5 to June 21.

The trophy will be contested for by 12 teams. The previous tournament which was the inaugural one was played in South Africa and won by India who beat Pakistan in an enthralling final.

This time round the venues marked for action are Lord's, The Oval and Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire.

Here is a short history starting with the Mecca of cricket Lord's Cricket ground where the group matchs, Super 8 and final will be played. Lord's will kick off the tourney with hosts England playing Netherlands on June 5. It will be followed with Pakistan meeting Netherlands and New Zealand fronting up to South Africa on June 9. Four Super 8 matches will be played on June 12 and 14. The final will be played here on June 21.

Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's is situated at St. John's Wood and was established in 1814 and was named after Thomas Lord. It has a seating capacity of 30,000. It is the ground of the Marleybourne Cricket Club and Middlesex.

Lord's conducted the first ever Test match between Australia and England in 1884 and the first one day international between Australia and England was contested in 1972.

Lord's is rightly being called the Mecca or the home of cricket and it is every cricketer's dream to play at Lord's. It is one of the most picturesque of cricket grounds and is owned by Marleyborne Cricket Club. It was at one time the headquarters of International Cricket Council.

Stands have been built in honour of two of their greatest cricketers Compton and Edrich. Many an exciting game has been played here and the Twenty20 final should not be an exception.

Kennigton Oval

The Oval Kennington in London is the venue for also group,super 8 and one semi-final. The group matches it will conduct are: Scotland v New Zealnd, Australia v West Indies on June 6. Then on June 7 Scotland will meet South Africa and England v Pakistan.

There will also be four Super 8 games on June 13 and 15 and a semi-final on the 19.

The First England-Australia Test was played here in 1880. The Oval is where the game of cricket really began in 1880 with the Englishmen recording a victory and where the great Dr. W. G. Grace made a debut hundred. The Oval is the historic venue that gave birth to the Ashes.

Many historic matches have been played on this ground - England's one wicket win in 1902. Sir Donald Bradman 244 and Bill Ponsford 266 putting on 451 for the second wicket. England made 903. It was also the venue where the great Don made his farewell appearance with a duck. There are several more records too numerous to mention.

The Oval saw recent development totaling Sterling Pounds 25 million.

Trent Bridge Nottingham

This ground will be the venue that will play host to five group matches between Bangladesh and India on June 6. Then on June 8 Bangladesh will meet Ireland and Sri Lanka front up to Australia. Then on June 10 India v Ireland, Sri Lanka v West Indies. Four Super 8 matches will be played on June 11 and two on June 16. A semi-final will be played on June 18.

Trent Bridge Nottingham is the home of Nottinghamshire Cricket Club. England played its First Test against Australia here in 1899. Some of the finest cricketers have left their marks on this hallowed ground.

Greame Pollock played one of the finest ever seen here. Australian openers Mark Taylor and Geoff Marsh batted through the first day of a Test putting on an unbroken stand of 301.