New stadium unveiled for Cricket World Cup in Nassau County. Take a look inside.
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- Nassau County's International Cricket Stadium was unveiled Wednesday in Eisenhower Park. A series of Cricket World Cup matches will be held there in June.
The 34,000-seat stadium was built in just three months.
Schedule of Cricket World Cup matches on Long Island
This is the first time the United States will be hosting Cricket World Cup games.
Eight of the Men's T20 World Cup matches will be held in Nassau County:
- June 3: Sri Lanka vs. South Africa
- June 5: India vs. Ireland
- June 7: Canada vs. Ireland
- June 8: Netherlands vs. South Africa
- June 9: India vs. Pakistan
- June 10: South Africa vs. Bangladesh
- June 11: Pakistan vs. Canada
- June 12: USA vs. India
Tickets are going fast, with the big games almost sold out.
"India versus Pakistan is probably equivalent to our Super Bowl. So we have made tickets available through our [International Cricket Council] host commission and there are some set aside for community groups and crickets teams here locally," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
"We want to make sure that this tournament in particular really is a celebration of the people that have stayed involved in the game of cricket in the USA for many years now since many of them moved to this country and now call it home," said Bret Jones, CEO of the ICC.
Star athletes on hand for Nassau County International Cricket Stadium unveiling
The first ball was bowled at the new cricket stadium on Long Island on Wednesday, and star athletes, like former New York Knicks shooting guard John Starks and Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, were on hand for the unveiling.
"People should come out and support it. It's gonna be a lot of fun here," Starks said.
"People come and see and enjoy and hopefully people catch on and it will become even bigger in the United States," Bolt said.
"Hosting it in the Caribbean and in the U.S. is special to us as Caribbean people because we're a small nation and we don't get the opportunity to host this type of tournament often," said legendary West Indies cricket player Curtly Ambrose.
"It will definitely grow cricket in the U.S.," said Monank Patel, a cricket player for the U.S. who will take part in the historic tournament.