 In 2020, a swing of the back can change everything. Each ball is an event, everyone different, pulsating the drama. The energy is electric, the volume rises, heart race is like a stripe of lightning. So with the 2024 ICC men's T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA only three months away, Cricut West Indies last Thursday opened ticket ballots to the general public within the space of 48 hours, a mind-blowing 1.2 million ticket applications were received, with over 900,000 coming from Americans. The ticket ballot period is from the 1st to the 7th of February and remaining tickets will go on general sale on the 22nd of February. Now the ICC head of events, Chris Tetley, said this. The initial applications for tickets indicate strong demand for tickets to the first ICC event, co-hosted by West Indies and USA. T20 Cricut is a growth vehicle to bring new fans to the sport and it is reassuring to see a large majority of applications coming from the Americas, reflecting the excitement of fans in the region to see world-class cricket. Meanwhile, the ICC tournament director Fawaz Batch said this. Given the global appeal of T20 Cricut, we anticipated a high number of applications during the early stages of public ticket ballot, but to surpass 1 million applications in the first 48 hours is nothing short of phenomenal and is a testament to the hard work, dedication and collective efforts of every member of the tournament project team. Now the ICC men's T20 media manager Philip Spooner joins us on telephone to discuss the high demand for the World Cup tickets. Welcome to the Sports Mac Zone, Phil. Thanks, Lance. Thank you very much for having me and good to be back in Jamaica, if only virtually. I understand your point. Let me start here because the West Indies did host the T20 World Cup back in 2010, but this one is being jointly hosted with the USA and it seems to have triggered colossal figures and looking quite different from what it did in 2010, isn't it? Yeah, well, 2010 is probably a world who will, a lot has happened since then and we're just happy. We're just really delighted with what we're seeing in terms of the numbers. In two days, as you said, we surpassed 1 million and I think we're in the region of I think over 4 million now. So it's showing a level of interest as both Fawaz and Chris said in the statements that were distributed over the weekend. So lots of excitement and it's a very good time to be involved in cricket and special that the Caribbean and the United States will be partnering on such an amazing opportunity for our party world. Yeah, and we saw where FIFA announced their World Cup Finals for 2026 to be staged at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the World Cup Finals in 2026 and within days we're getting this buzz from the ICCT20 World Cup, which is being staged in the U.S. as well. Yeah, well, you know, this, you know, we are very good at doing events in the West Indies. We've done four global sporting events, cricket events before, 2007, 50 World Cup for men, 2010, T20 World Cup for men and women, 2018, Women's World T20 World Cup and then in 2022, ICC men's on the 19th. But this is a whole new level, tremendous participation. 20 teams, 55 matches from 1st to 29th of June. So lots of expectations, lots of anticipation. And the Caribbean, the West Indies, the buzz as we speak, because the atmosphere is building and persons are really excited about getting involved. And over in the U.S., lots of excitement there as well as Chris outlined. Lots of applications from America, Dallas, matches in Dallas, New York and Miami. So, you know, it's time to get on the train and get ready for this massive event, the biggest event to be hosted in the Caribbean by some distance. Yeah, I can see that. And Phil, I see where the tournament venues have opted out of hosting CWI four-day matches this tournament starting this week. And that is a part, of course, of them getting themselves ready with their venues for the global event in June. Yeah, well, part of preparation requires that the venue be handed over to ICC by a certain time. But I mean, lots of preparation going on. This week, the lead curator for CWI, Kent Craft, and he'll be going around the region and looking at pitches and outfields, ensuring that we're up to speed where we need to be at this stage. And, you know, the ballot closes in a few days. And then the people, persons will know which matches they got, which tickets they got. And then from the 22nd of February, when the ticket scored back on sale, that's also 100 days to go before the first ball is bowed. So, lots of events, you know, in February as well. And then we go straight into March and then April and then May, once you say May, you know, you basically send to an event in June, it will all happen across the three venues in the US and the six venues in the West Indies. Right, and spoons for the people that are not following the story as closely as we are. How long does this ballot period run for? The seven-year period is starting on Thursday. It goes to just before midnight on what we call the reveal Wednesday night. So, you still got time and we want to urge our friends in the West Indies to please, please get on the ballot, tickets.t20world.com. Please go there, submit your request for your tickets. Only on Saturday it was at Garrison, Savannah with Craig Brathwaite and there were a couple of fans who came over to Craig wanting to know not how he beat Australia, but wanting to know how to get tickets for the World Cup. So Craig directed them to the website after which they praised him for his performance in Australia. So, even within Celebrating, Craig's a remarkable feat. People were asking questions about T20 World Cup. So, as I said, there's a lot of excitement and, you know, you will see a lot of things happening in the West Indies within the next few months. But at this moment, we want to urge everyone to please, please go there and get it, and to play for your tickets. And I know for sure. Thank you, Brian. Yeah, I know for sure. Sponsored how West Indies fans get where tickets are concerned. So, is there a limit of tickets that one person can purchase? You can play for six up to six for each match that you want to get. And then you take it from there. Once you submit your ballot from there, you will obviously be entered into the systems. And then once the ballot closes, then you'll be notified of the tickets that you managed to receive. After that, you get an email and then you make purchases. So, it's how it's done at international level of sport labs. You would have done several Olympic Games and been around football or a World Cup. Mariah, you know the insider, you know this is the way the sports world works. And you have to submit it into the ballot because it's a global process. And up to when we published the press release, it was 106 countries. People from 106 countries had applied into the ballot. So, that goes to show you the level of interest all across the world. So, cricket really and truly is number two spectator sport on the planet. And this sort of shows you exactly what we're talking about. And what are the prices that we're looking at? Well, the prices vary, obviously, depending on matches. But we start at 6 US, which is really affordable. So, we want to let persons know that it's not a massive price tag on tickets. Obviously, as you go late in the tournament to the Super 8s, the semis and the finals, the prices will increase. But for the first round ticket start at 6 US. So, that's to ensure that everybody gets an opportunity to see cricket, join the T20 World Cup and participate. And not only just go and watch matches, but there'll be so many other activities going on. Fan parks, parties, music events, street festivals in any Caribbean and in the US. You can imagine what places like Brooklyn and Times Square will be like. What they'll be like in Fort Lauderdale and downtown Miami. Then you can imagine what it's like in Hero Scream Barbatos and the Avenue in Trinidad and the Seawall in Guyana and Stafford Market. You know, Wreckliffe Street in Antigua and Rosy Lea in St. Lucia and in the heart of Kingston, St. Vincent. So, it's all going to happen. Lots of activity, a lot of fanfare, a lot of call, a lot of enthusiasm. And we also want to stress, we can't stress enough on the fan parks and the kids' parks where we're going to teach children how to play cricket. And we're going to have some of the best cricketers that we've ever had participate in these fan parks. So, there's a lot to expect and a lot to see. Yeah, from the experiences of 2007, the 50th World Cup and 2010 as well, the men's T20 World Cup held in the Caribbean, Phillip. A lot of complaints about how expensive the tickets were. I was, well, pleasantly surprised to see the prices for the tickets for this year's tournament from $6 as you pointed out, US dollars. I think up to a high of 25 US dollars, which is quite good. How important from the organizational standpoint, was it to your team that you got the pricing right? It's massively important. We want to ensure that every person who wants to see a match can see it. And one of the pillars upon which the bid was developed was to reignite the passion for cricket in the West Indies. So we want to make sure that those who watched, who watched Grenadian Haynes and Marshall and Garner and Richardson and Ambrose and what you want to make sure that they still want to come and watch cricket and we also want to make sure that the grandchildren of those who watched Grenadian Haynes and Marshall and Garner, that they also can come and watch cricket. So every person in the West Indies who is physically capable and capable, we want to give you an opportunity to come and see the T20 World Cup. And that means that we set the ticket prices at very, very affordable rates. And it's showing by virtue of close to over 4 million persons applying. But we need to reignite the passion for cricket in the West Indies. And for me, it's a personal joy as well to be part of this. Because I was there in 2012 and in 2016, I was part of the back room staff in West Indies one. And I know how it felt to the players there. And I know what it felt like coming back home in the Caribbean to people really enjoying this. And we saw what happened only a week ago. We should have put the West Indies on his back and bow them to that magnificent victory against Australia. So the passion is there, but we want to reignite it. We want to get people fired up again. And if it all goes according to plan, Robin Power would be the malefinal trophy on the 29th of June at Kensin Oval. And that would be the icing on all the cakes that we could possibly think of. So we want to get fans back again. We want to get people excited. We want to get everybody really pumped up. And then we want to see Robin and his team go there win. Yeah, love the way you put it, Philip. In terms of how the process works. So let us say I go on the portal and I make an application for three tickets to see the opening match. Is there a guarantee that I will get those tickets? No guarantees. It's not a first-come-served basis either. It's a ballot. So you're not guaranteed. But you stand a very good chance, for sure, if you put yourself in there. Because I mean, if you're not in, you're out. So you would want to be part of the ballot first and give yourself the opportunity. I mean, matches will be sold out. We acknowledge that. I mean, India, Pakistan, for example, in New York is bound to be sold out. Australia, England, and Barbados is bound to be sold out. Most all the West Indies matches will be sold out. We are confident of that. But there will be other matches and other opportunities to also see some of the best pickers in the world. So one way to guarantee that you give yourself a really good chance is to enter the ballot tickets.t20world.com. And really nice footage of the West Indies winning in 2016, by the way. Yeah, very much the case. And as well, Philip, so within the first of 48 hours, you had over a million applicants. A large portion of those coming from the United States of America, you have told us that you are well over four million now. Is the trend still the same, where majority of those applying are Americans? Or in the United States of America? Yeah, it's going that way by and large. But the Caribbean is also keeping pace. But we want to see West Indians really, really getting involved. And it's something we appreciate. It's something new for our West Indian brothers and sisters. But we want to get them encouraged and get them involved in this process. Because it's one way, as I said, to guarantee that you get the opportunity to be part of the world cup. So seeing it and enjoying it is what we want. But yeah, we would love, we want everybody to be there. I'm here telling somebody, did you see when Rob won 86? Or did you see when Puran hit that cover joint? You want to be able to say, I saw it myself and I enjoy moments of it. Yeah, and are you seeing any cross application, meaning those from the United States of America applying to go to matches in the Caribbean, in Trinidad, in Guyana, in Barbados? I'm not across it on that level. I just, I'm getting the information from my colleagues. So I'm not across who is going where, et cetera, and where they're jumping to or heading to. But we know for sure that the trend shows there is a large interest in the US. And obviously there's a large interest from persons in India as well. And the Caribbean is involved in a meaningful way. Yeah, in terms of the overall process, of course, the ballot, as you pointed out, will close on the 7th of February. And there are many cricket lovers across the Caribbean who right now are asking the question, well, I don't really have access to the online platform in that way. Or maybe I don't understand it and I don't have anyone to help me with that. In terms of tickets going on sale in the traditional Caribbean way, where you turn up to an outlet and get your tickets, is that going to happen? And if so, when can fans expect that? Well, we're working on those processes. We want it, as I said, we want to ensure everybody gets that opportunity. Traditional sales we are not going to appreciate is the way that many West Indians, as you wrote many West Indians go, but we also want to hammer on the point that this is an international tournament being hosted in the West Indies. And this is the direction of which the ticket sales are at this stage. But we will build main provision. We want to ensure that everybody gets a chance. So we'll try to make provision later down for that to happen. But at this stage, if you don't have access to the online, please try to seek out someone, talk to, you know, if you're part of church, if you're part of community group, you're part of a school, you know, somebody that's active on with the technology, please speak to them and ask them if they can accommodate you for this purpose. And we hope that that is the direction that we can be our brothers keeper and ensure that this process works. But as you said, we are working through processes. We will seek to answer any questions as they come up. Yeah. And Philip, you might need to save a few hundred tickets for those in Barakara. We welcome them. We welcome them. It's that's the that's the that was obviously the best kept secret on the planet. Barakara. And we saw who came out of Barakara and what he did. He's now the face of a world cricket. And in one week, it goes to show miracles do do happen. So big up to Shamar for amazing performance. And, you know, we try we we you know, there's this talk from the West Indies headquarter. He's keen to to see how he can go into 20. And you never know, he could be demandable as a victory on the 29th. So, you know, it's all possible. I mean, this guy has come from this guy's come from nowhere and has done everything that would expect of him and more in just in just two times as much as you're prophesying a lot here, Philip, from Robyn Paul hitting the winning runs or lifting the trophy on the 29th or Shamar Joseph bowling the West Indies to victory. You're becoming a prophet or trying to be. I'm part of the committee and I and I and I want a fantastic tournament. And I want the best team to win. But I'm also a West Indian. And I won't be so best in this cricket and I wanted one part of being the best is beating the best and winning and then, you know, top of every 20 cricket is concerned. So that's what we want. Yeah. Well, you did say that you're taking your cue from the white ball coach, Darren Sammy, who in his words said he can't wait to get his hands on Shamar Joseph. So I think that's a good enough indication. Yeah. Art Phil, always a pleasure talking to you here on the Sports Max zone and we'll be in touch as the excitement builds to T20 and June World Cup Tournament. That is going to be like no other that we've ever seen. Thanks, Phil. Thank you very much. And if we get in jazz, we would love to bring our bring the trophy to that wonderful studio you have there. So I'm going to do it, but we'll talk. Art Phil, we'll be back with more on the Sports Max zone feelings from Barbados and there's a big Barbados story coming up on the Sports Max zone on the other side of the break, tennis.