Next ICC T20 World Cup to happen in the USA?

The United States have come together with the West Indies in an attempt to organise International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments from 2023 onward.

USA Cricket believes that the United States' success in hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup could help its bid to organise the Twenty20 World Cup.

Back in 1994, more than 3.5 million fans attended the matches, which by itself is a football World Cup record.

USA Cricket chief executive Iain Higgins said, "If you played in the USA, every venue would be sold out. Other sports have used their major events as catalysts for growth in non-traditional markets. Imagine India playing Pakistan in a T20 World Cup in the US - you could not build a venue big enough. It's our objective to have a team that's competing with full members of the ICC in the short term, and it's our objective to become a full member of the ICC in the next 10 years."

The USA achieved its one-day international playing status at the beginning of 2019. Later in December, they beat Scotland.

Higgins emphasised on the USA's aim of gaining Test status before the next decade.

The US has already staged a few international cricket matches. Florida's Central Broward Regional Park has hosted 10 Twenty20 internationals and six one-day internationals. The same ground is scheduled to conduct two T20s between West Indies and South Africa in August.

Higgins also identified certain other areas where the US can prove itself worthy enough to secure a place at international cricket's top stage.

Higgins expressed his confidence about having "great quality venues" that could be capable of scaling up for ICC events. The US cricket board plans to develop at least six venues in the country that could host international matches.

According to BBC, Higgins revealed plans of using those venues for the introduction of a Twenty20 league in the USA.

The USA Cricket CEO also revealed that during the last two cricket World Cups, a lot of fans travelled from the US to the countries where the tournaments were organised. This suggests that the country has an enormous appetite for cricket.

While Higgins is confident that ICC would love the idea of organising a cricket tournament in the USA, only time will reveal if such a dream will come true for the American cricket enthusiasts.