The London Stadium, the centrepiece of the London 2012 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, has taken a major step towards hosting games at the 2019 Cricket World Cup after it was confirmed that its playing surface is big enough to stage one-day internationals (ODIs).
The 2019 national team tournament will take place in England and Wales from May 30 to July 15, although the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is yet to finalise the list of venues that will host matches.
Traditional cricket stadiums such as Lord’s, The Oval and Old Trafford have been confirmed as tournament venues, but the International Cricket Council has also requested a high-capacity facility feature, with the 60,000-capacity London Stadium identified as a possible option.
However, while the playing surface at the stadium has been deemed big enough to host ODIs, various other feasibility issues must be addressed. According to the BBC, these include reviewing the venue’s seating configuration, as well as the cost-effectiveness of turfing the entire playing area and the suitability of drop-in pitches.
Meanwhile, former London Mayor Boris Johnson is to face questions over his management of the London Stadium, as part of a wider investigation into the increasing costs of converting the stadium into a football venue.
Although classed as a multi-purpose arena, the stadium is mainly used by English Premier League football club West Ham United, which relocated to the venue at the start of the 2016-17 season. However, the cost of converting the facility to a football venue has now rocketed by £50m (€57.9m/$62.2m) more than previously announced, with the managing team facing heavy criticism.
According to Sky News, Johnson, now the UK’s Foreign Secretary, will be one of a number of officials to contribute to the investigation, which will look at the stadium’s design and construction, as well as the planning process and future operation of the venue.
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