Grand Prairie Stadium, which hosted the first season of Major League Cricket in 2023, is set to host international cricket for the first time when it stages four official ICC tournament warm-up matches for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. 

Photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By DreamCricket Staff
 
The ICC has unveiled the complete list of official warm-up fixtures to be played between May 27 and June 1 to be played at sites across the USA and Caribbean. At least two of the three American venues will host matches, with a site for the India v Bangladesh warm-up match on June 1 yet to be confirmed though the expectation is that it will be played at the newly unveiled Nassau County International Stadium. 
 
USA’s pair of warm-up fixtures have been announced for May 28 and 30 to both be played at Grand Prairie Stadium, 12 miles west of Dallas, Texas. In a peculiar decision, USA will play Bangladesh in an official warm-up match on May 28 despite the fact that USA is already scheduled to play three official T20Is against Bangladesh at Prairie View Cricket Complex from May 21-25. USA’s second official warm-up match will be played against Nepal on May 30. 
 
Nepal will also have an earlier warm-up match to be played against Canada on May 27 in Grand Prairie, which will be the first international matches of any kind – warm-up or full T20Is – to be played at Grand Prairie Stadium. The USA v Nepal match on May 30 will be part of a doubleheader in which the second match of the day will feature Netherlands against Canada to complete the set of four warm-up matches to be played at the facility which reopened in 2023 – and hosted the first season of the Major League Cricket T20 franchise tournament – following an estimated $20 million renovation from its original layout as a minor league baseball stadium. 
 
Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida will be hosting three warm-up matches, beginning on May 28 when Netherlands plays Sri Lanka. It will be the first of two warm-up matches for Sri Lanka at the facility. They will also take on Ireland on May 31 before both teams travel to New York ahead of their first matches of the tournament. Sri Lanka starts off their Group D slate against South Africa on June 3 at Nassau County International Stadium while Ireland opens on June 5 at the same venue against India. 
 
The remaining warm-up fixture scheduled for Broward County Stadium is an intrasquad match for South Africa on May 29. It is the only intrasquad practice match officially scheduled by the ICC for any team in the tournament. 
 
The final warm-up fixture between India and Bangladesh is yet to be given a designated venue by the ICC. The expectation is that it will be held in New York on June 1 at Nassau County International Stadium so that the ICC can have at least one match played on the new drop-in wickets that have been installed at the newly opened venue in Long Island, New York before the official first T20I is played at the venue on June 3. But if the New York venue – which took less than four months to complete at an estimated $30 million cost – is unavailable for any reason, the match may be held at Broward County Stadium or canceled outright because Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas will be unavailable that day since it is due to host the opening match of the tournament that night between USA and Canada. 
 
A total of eight other warm-up matches are slated to be held in Trinidad & Tobago – the only Caribbean venue due to host any official warm-up matches – at both Brian Lara Academy and Queen’s Park Oval. The only two Full Member to have two warm-ups scheduled in Trinidad are Australia and Afghanistan. Australia will play Namibia on May 28 and West Indies on May 30. Afghanistan are set to face Oman on May 29 and Scotland on May 31. 
 
Associate sides Papua New Guinea, Oman, Uganda, Scotland and Namibia all have two warm-up matches scheduled. The only tournament participants not to have any warm-ups scheduled against other teams are England, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.