The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, a tournament of 50-over cricket that takes place every four years, is set to kick off today (Thursday) in England and Wales.
Ten teams from Bangladesh, England, India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are participating in the tournament.
They will all play each other once in 50-over matches across 11 venues in England and Wales. The top four teams from the group stage advance to the semi-finals before the final at Lord's on 14 July.
According to BBC, organisers say that 95 per cent of 800,000 available tickets have been sold, adding it is believed a third of these ticket holders will be new to cricket.
In addition, 150,000 tickets are held by women and children, while some 250,000 have been purchased by south east Asian fans.
The schedule of the tournament is a revival of the format used in 1992, when nine teams all played each other before the semis and final.
The 10 participants make it the smallest competition in terms of teams taking part since 1992, and the decision to contract from a 14-team tournament four years ago was criticised for excluding some of cricket's smaller nations.
Ireland are not playing in a World Cup for the first time since 2003, while Scotland missed out after a controversial defeat by West Indies in the qualifying competition.
However, the 10-team format does mean that most of the teams entering arrive with some prospect of lifting the trophy.
Australia have won four of the past five World Cups and are improving after a turbulent year which saw Steve Smith and David Warner banned for ball-tampering. Both batsmen have returned in time for this tournament.
India are ranked as the second best side in the world and in captain Virat Kohli have perhaps the greatest one-day batsman of all time.
Their fierce rivals Pakistan were beaten 4-0 by England in the series prior to the World Cup, but they won the Champions Trophy in the UK in 2017 and often peak in tournaments.
West Indies have the ability to post huge totals, and both South Africa and New Zealand, neither of whom have ever won the World Cup, have enough quality to take the title after a number of near misses.
