Organisers of the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales are planning to use the London Stadium to host a ‘festival of cricket’ during the national team tournament.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the Stratford-based venue will host a one-day night match on a Friday and a day game on the Sunday, with the idea of attracting a capacity crowd for the two matches and reducing operating costs.
It is believed that the stadium could have a capacity as high as 60,000 for cricket matches.
The newspaper added that both England and India are likely to feature over the weekend, with the likely fixtures to be England against Australia on the Friday, with India playing Pakistan in the Sunday match.
The tournament organising committee will meet on May 11 to discuss the idea and could confirm the initiative as early as July, as they look to push ahead with final plans for the 2019 competition, which will run from May 30 to July 15.
The London Stadium is yet to host a cricket match and despite hopes of the site staging Essex Twenty20 games next summer, it looks increasingly likely that the venue could stage its first cricket events at the World Cup.
Although mainly used by English Premier League football club West Ham United, the venue is classed as a multi-use facility and will this summer stage the IAAF World Championships athletics contest as well as a series of live entertainment events.
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