Ultimate guide to the 2024 men's T20 World Cup

When does it start?

The warm-up matches get underway this week for most nations but the 2024 men's T20 World Cup begins officially on Saturday, June 1 (10.30am Sunday, June 2 AEST) with the oldest rivalry in international cricket – the United States and Canada. Before the Ashes were even thought of, these two nations played in the first ever international cricket match in 1844 with Canada emerging victorious by 23 runs in the three-day contest at a field in Staten Island, New York.

This year's match will take place in Dallas at Grand Prairie Stadium, a former baseball park that was converted to a purpose-built cricket venue for the inaugural Major League Cricket season in 2023. Australia – fresh off their remarkable triumph in last year's 50-over version – begin their quest for a second men's T20 World Cup crown against Oman in Barbados on June 5 (10.30am, June 6 AEST) before facing archrivals and defending champions England at the same venue on June 8 (3am, June 9 AEST).

The 2024 T20 World Cup will be contested by a record 20 nations, an expansion from 16 teams at the 2022 edition that was hosted by Australia. Canada and Uganda have qualified for the men's tournament for the first time, while the USA will also contest their maiden T20 World Cup by virtue of being co-host.

Check out the full fixture here.

How can I watch the tournament?

All 55 matches will be shown live on Amazon's Prime Video online subscription streaming service in Australia after the internet giant acquired the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events for 2024-27. There will be no free-to-air Australian broadcast of any men's or women's ICC events under the deal. You can read more about that here.

Prime Video will also produce two on-demand highlights packages after every match – a 10-minute version called Short Stuff and a 25-minute version called Great Length – as well as full match replays titled Full Delivery. Clever! 

There's also a few nifty new features available due to Prime Video being an online streaming service. For instance, fans will be able to seamlessly switch between English and Hindi commentary if they wish. And a "rapid recap" feature will help bring you up to speed quickly if you're joining the live broadcast late – it uses machine learning to compile a two-minute highlights package of action so far.  

The broadcast is scheduled to begin 30 minutes before the match starts for each game, and they will take the ICC-produced world feed.

And if watching down the pub, club or casino is your preference, Prime Video has struck a deal for the T20 World Cup to be shown at commercial premises that have an Optus Sport Business subscription. 

Prime Video has also signed up Aussie Test batter Usman Khawaja as an ambassador, and he will provide "exclusive insight and analysis of the tournament on Prime Video's social channels during key matches".

Prime Video is included in a Prime membership, which is better known for free shipping for Amazon's online shopping arm. Prime members will be able to watch ICC matches anywhere and anytime through the Prime Video app for smart TVs, mobile devices and Apple TV, as well as through a web browser. Through the app, subscribers will be able to download matches to their mobile devices and tablets and watch anywhere offline at no additional cost.

Amazon offers a 30-day free trial for new Prime members, which is quite handy given Australia's first fixture is June 6 and the final is on June 30. And don't forget season three of 'The Test' launches on the platform on May 24. 

Click here to join Prime Video

Who's commentating?

Having missed selection in Australia's squad for the tournament, Steve Smith has joined the ICC commentary panel featuring cricketing legends and renowned broadcasters to provide insights and analysis across the nine host locations in the USA and Caribbean.

Smith will be joined in the booth by 2021 T20 World Cup-winning skipper Aaron Finch, as well as Mel Jones, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Lisa Sthalekar and Tom Moody from Australia.

Renowned broadcasters Ravi Shastri, Nasser Hussain, Ian Smith, Jones, Harsha Bhogle and Ian Bishop will lead a more than 40-strong team of commentators for the 29-day tournament.

ICC Men's T20 World Cup commentary panel: Ravi Shastri, Nasser Hussain, Ian Smith, Mel Jones, Harsha Bhogle, Ian Bishop, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Samuel Badree, Carlos Brathwaite, Steve Smith, Lisa Sthalekar, Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden, Ramiz Raja, Eoin Morgan, Tom Moody, Wasim Akram, James O’Brien, Dale Steyn, Graeme Smith, Michael Atherton, Waqar Younis, Simon Doull, Shaun Pollock, Katey Martin, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Natalie Germanos, Danny Morrison, Alison Mitchell, Alan Wilkins, Brian Murgatroyd, Mike Haysman, Ian Ward, Athar Ali Khan, Russel Arnold, Niall O’Brien, Kass Naidoo, Daren Ganga

What about radio coverage?

In a late update, the BBC secured the ICC's audio rights for the next four years, which in turn means the ABC also has coverage. You can find it via the ABC Listen app. 

How's the time difference? 

It's a bit of a dog's breakfast for Australian viewers to be honest, with matches stretching across a 13-hour window from a 12.30am start times to 10.30am start times on the east coast. But the good news is most of Australia's matches will be in a sleep-pattern friendly timezone. Australia's tournament-opener against Oman begins at 10.30am AEST, while the first ball of the blockbuster second match against Ashes rivals England is at 3am AEST, which is a slightly tougher 1am on the west coast. Australia's remaining two Group B matches against Namibia and Scotland get underway at 10.30am AEST (8.30am AWST).

Assuming Australia make it through to the Super Eights second round, two of their three matches there will also start at 10.30am AEST, but the blockbuster against India (assuming they too make it through) will be a 12.30am AEST start. 

Where do I get live scores, news and highlights?

The cricket.com.au website and CA Live app is the place to go for live scores and the latest news throughout the 29-day tournament. We'll also have extensive coverage each day with reports, video recaps, interviews and behind-the-scenes insights from our crew on the ground in the Caribbean.

Our reporters Josh Schonafinger and Louis Cameron are following the Aussie team throughout the World Cup to bring fans closer to the action. You can also catch up on all the latest news via the Unplayable Podcast, where we will be joined by special guests to dissect all the talking points throughout the tournament, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up to date.

What's the tournament format?

The largest T20 World Cup in the tournament's history will again feature three stages – an initial group stage followed by the Super Eights and finals. The 20 teams have been split into four groups of five for the round-robin first stage of the tournament, with the top two teams to progress after each nation plays their other four group members. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a no result. In the event of a tie, a Super Over will decide the winner. Group A will play all their matches in the United States, along with the first six matches of Group D, with the remaining four split between St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Upon completion of the first group stage, the top two teams from each of the four groups will move into the Super Eight stage of the competition. Teams seeded first and second in their groups in the first round will retain that seeding in the next stage regardless of their final position on group table, provided they qualify for the Super Eight stage. England are seeded first in Group B followed by Australia in second, meaning the Aussies will go into Group 1 as B2 in the second round regardless of their position on the table. Should an unseeded team make it out of the group, they will take the seed of the team they knocked out. If there are two unseeded qualifiers, it will revert to ladder position. All Super Eight matches will take place in the Caribbean.

If – and it's a big if in a T20 tournament – there are no major upsets and all the seeded teams progress, Australia will play Sri Lanka, New Zealand and India in that order in their three Super Eight fixtures.

The two top teams from each group in the Super Eight will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on June 26 and 27 respectively. The final will be held in Barbados on Saturday, June 29. Reserve days have been scheduled for both semi-finals and the final.

Ok, so lay out all the Aussie matches for me

Australia's Group B fixtures

June 6: v Oman, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 10.30am AEST

June 9: v England, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 3am AEST

June 12: v Namibia, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST

June 16: v Scotland, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 10.30am AEST

The top two finishers from Group B will advance

Super Eight fixtures (should Australia qualify)

21 June: v D2, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST

23 June: v C1, Arnos Vale Ground, St Vincent, 10.30am AEST

25 June: v A1, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST

If all seeded teams make it through the first round, D2 = Sri Lanka, C1 = New Zealand, A1 = India

The finals

27 June: Semi-final 1, Brian Lara Academy, Trinidad, 10.30am AEST

28 June: Semi-final 2, Providence Stadium, Guyana, 12.30am AEST

30 June: Final, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 12.30am AEST

For the full list of fixtures click here. All matches live and exclusive on Prime Video.

Australia team news

Australia announced their 15-player squad on May 1 and the big talking point was Steve Smith being left out of a World Cup campaign for the first time in a decade. Selectors also resisted the urge to whisk IPL sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk into the touring party for what would have been his T20 international debut.

Western Australia allrounders Ashton Agar and Cameron Green were the two surprise selections for the 2021 champions having not played a T20I in almost 18 months. Mitch Marsh has been confirmed as captain of an experienced and settled side that could see opener Travis Head replacing retired former skipper Aaron Finch as the only change from the XI that contested Australia's opening match of the previous T20 World Cup.

Death specialist Nathan Ellis earned selection as the fourth fast bowling option behind the big three of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, while Adam Zampa will head four spins options for the Aussies including Agar, Glenn Maxwell and Head. Veteran opener David Warner will finish his international career following the tournament, while Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis and wicketkeeper-batters Matthew Wade and Josh Inglis provide the middle-order options.

Australia 2024 men's T20 World Cup squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

What are the host venues?

The 2024 men's T20 World Cup will be the largest in the tournament's history with 20 teams playing 55 matches across nine cities. It is the first time USA will host matches at a T20 World Cup, with 16 first-round games split between Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium (Dallas) and Broward County Stadium (Lauderhill).

Lauderhill in Florida has hosted international cricket since 2010, including most recently in August last year when West Indies hosted India at the venue for two T20s. Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas was built for Major League Cricket and hosted 12 matches in the inaugural season in 2023. New York will feature a brand-new international cricket venue with a purpose-built 34,000-seat modular stadium constructed 50km east of downtown Manhattan specifically for the World Cup. Eight matches will be played at the venue during the first round of the tournament, including the India-Pakistan blockbuster on June 9 (12.30am, June 10 AEST). The pitches for the new stadium have been curated by Damian Hough and his Adelaide Oval ground staff team.

Six countries (Barbados, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines) will host matches in the Caribbean with Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad and Providence Stadium, Guyana the venues selected for the semi-finals and Kensington Oval, Barbados the final on June 29. The historic Sabina Park in Kingston won't host any matches during the tournament after the Jamaican government opted against bidding to host games.

Australia will play all their matches in the Caribbean, with the first two against Oman (10.30am, June 6 AEST) and England (3am, June 9 AEST) at Kensington Oval in Barbados. They'll then face Namibia (10.30am, June 12) at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Scotland (10.30am, June 16) at Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia. Should they qualify for the Super Eight stage they'll play their matches in Antigua, Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent and St Lucia.

What about reserve days? 

The final, scheduled for June 29, has a reserve day in the calendar in case of heavy rain or some other interruption in Barbados.

However, of the two semi finals (June 26 in Trinidad and June 27 in Guyana), only the first semi in Trinidad has a reserve day in place for the following day. That's because if the second semi in Guyana was pushed back a day, the winners would have to play the final the following day, on a different island and within only a matter of hours. Instead, the second semi (set to begin at 10:30am local time) will instead have the option to extend play by up to four hours to get the required overs in. 

Should either semi-final be unable to complete, the higher placed side from the Super Eight stage will progress.

What does the winner get?

The ICC announced a record-breaking prize pool of US$11.25 million (that's A$17.07m) to be carved up for the 2024 T20 World Cup – that's more than double the US$5.6 million that was on offer at the previous tournament hosted by Australia. All participating teams will receive something, with the winner to take home a hefty US$2.45m (A$3.7m) for winning the 2024 final on June 29.

The runners-up will earn US$1.28m, while the losing semi-finalists will take home US$787,500 each. Teams that do not advance past the second round will receive US$382,500 each, and those finishing between ninth and 12th place will get US$247,500 each.

Teams ranking from 13th to 20th place will each earn US$225,000. Additionally, every team will receive an extra US$31,154 for each match won, excluding the semi-finals and finals.

Who's officiating?

The ICC announced a team of 26 match officials (20 umpires and six match referees) who will take charge during the first round of the ninth edition of the men's T20 World Cup. They will then select the umpires and referees for the Super Eight stage, semi-finals and final.

Australian umpires selected for the tournament are Rod Tucker and Paul Reiffel, who was the reserve umpire for the 2022 final between England and Pakistan at the MCG, while Cricket Australia Umpire of the Year, Sam Nogajski, will make his officiating debut at a senior men's ICC event. Aussie legend David Boon will again be part of the match referee panel.

The experienced group of umpires includes Kumar Dharmasena and Chris Gaffaney, who were appointed alongside Reiffel for the final of the previous T20 World Cup. Jayaraman Madanagopal, Allahudien Paleker, Rashid Riaz and Asif Yaqoob will also make their senior men's event debuts.

Umpires: Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Allahudien Paleker, Richard Kettleborough, Jayaraman Madanagopal, Nitin Menon, Sam Nogajski, Ahsan Raza, Rashid Riaz, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Shahid Saikat, Rodney Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson, Asif Yaqoob

 

Match referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Andrew Pycroft, Richie Richardson, Javagal Srinath