By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: ICC.
The road to the 2027 Cricket World Cup will become clearer on Thursday when the International Cricket Council and Cricket South Africa unveil the tournament schedule in Cape Town, exactly one year before the final.
The event will also open the ticket registration process, giving supporters their first opportunity to enter the ballot for matches at the 14-team tournament.
The World Cup is scheduled to begin on October 2, 2027, with the final to be played on November 21. South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will jointly host the tournament, which will return to Africa for the first time since the 2003 World Cup.
The competition will feature 57 matches across 12 venues, with eight in South Africa, three in Zimbabwe and one in Namibia.
Fourteen teams will take part, although the final qualification picture will only be completed after the September 30 cut off.
South Africa and Zimbabwe have secured places as hosts, while the other teams will qualify through the ICC ODI rankings or the global qualification pathway. Namibia, despite being one of the host nations, still need to secure their place in the tournament.
India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are currently in line to qualify through the ODI rankings.
Bangladesh would qualify despite sitting ninth because South Africa, who are third in the rankings, already have their place as hosts.
The West Indies, meanwhile, are currently outside the automatic qualification positions and will have to come through the qualifiers.
The final four places will be decided through the qualification tournament, with those teams listed as Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2, Qualifier 3 and Qualifier 4 in Thursday’s schedule.
The tournament itself will have a different look.
The 14 teams will enter a three-stage competition before the semifinals and final, with every stage carrying significance.
The opening Super Series will involve the three lowest ranked qualified teams. They will play each other in a round robin competition, with the winner advancing to the next stage.
The second round will feature 12 teams split into two groups of six. Thirty matches will be played, with the top three teams from each group progressing along with the next best placed team across the two groups.
That will create the seven-team Super 7 stage.
The seven remaining teams will then play a further 21 round robin matches. The top four will advance to the semifinals, where first place will face fourth and second will meet third.
The winners will meet in the final on November 21.
For supporters, Thursday’s announcement will provide the first complete picture of how the World Cup will unfold across southern Africa.
The ICC will also launch the ticket ballot registration process, although tickets will not go on general sale immediately. Fans will instead be able to register their interest from October 1 before the ballot process determines access to tickets.
With South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia preparing to stage cricket’s biggest global one day tournament, the countdown to 2027 will officially move from anticipation to fixtures on Thursday.