The London Stadium looks likely to miss out on hosting matches in the Cricket World Cup next summer.
Fixtures for the 10-team, 50-over showpiece, which like the 1992 tournament will feature an all-plays-all group stage leading into semi-finals and the final, are expected to be announced on Thursday following sign-off by the International Cricket Council board.
However, news of certain matches has begun to seep out of the ICC’s meetings in Kolkata this week, with the highly anticipated group game between India and Pakistan reportedly scheduled to be played at Old Trafford on 16 June.
Both this match and England’s meeting with Australia had been tentatively planned to take place at the London Stadium in the hope of filling its 60,000 capacity and setting a record crowd for a cricket match in the UK.
While the proposed outfield at the venue met the minimum boundary sizes for a one-day international, hosting cricket would have involved a costly transformation and required a successful test event this summer.
However, one official has told the Guardian that at this stage plans to host cricket at the London Stadium during the World Cup look to be “a thing of the past”.
A previous report in the Times suggested the undersoil heating used by the current tenants West Ham United created a problem for the proposed drop-in pitches.
It means the tournament will revert to its original 11 host venues over its 46-day schedule: The Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Headingley, Old Trafford, Taunton, Bristol, Chester-le-Street, Southampton, Cardiff and Lord’s.
The latter is due to host the final on 14 July, with reserve days scheduled for this and the two semi-finals, which are reportedly due to be played at Edgbaston and Old Trafford.
Last month West Indies and Afghanistan secured the final two qualifying places, with the defending champions Australia, the hosts England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh making up the 10 competing teams.
