ICC WCL Trophy

(Hamilton, Bermuda - August 16, 2012) - The Minister of Youth, Families and Sports the Hon. Glenn A. Blakeney JP MP and the Bermuda Cricket Board today welcomed to Bermuda the International Cricket Council (ICC) Global Development Manager Tim Anderson who ceremoniously unveiled the stunning men's ICC World Twenty20 Trophy at a press conference this afternoon.

The silver and rhodium trophy, weighing 7.5 kgs and standing 51 cms tall, will be handed to the winner of the men??s tournament at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka on October 7, 2012. The ICC World T20 is the marquee event of T20 cricket, embracing both men's and women's cricket. The World T20 trophy is part of the official pre-competition tour and has so far travelled to the following countries - Sri Lanka, Australia, UK, Ireland, Malaysia, USA, Canada, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Blanket coverage of this exciting world event will be provided by Bermuda CableVision who is partnering with ESPN to bring coverage of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 to Bermuda. The men's tournament is taking place across three venues, Colombo, Pallakele and Hambantota from September 18 until October 7, with the semi-finals and finals of the men's and women's tournament will be played as double-headers in Colombo.

Minister Blakeney said: "I welcome the ICC Global Development Manager Tim Anderson on his visit to Bermuda and thank him for bringing this glorious trophy to our beautiful island. Most of us will already know that the 2012 edition of the ICC World T20 will feature two Associate/Affiliate nations - Ireland and Afghanistan - and I wish them all the best next month in the competition in Sri Lanka."

"Furthermore, I wish to congratulate the Bermuda Cricket Board for its continued recognition by the global governing body of cricket, the ICC, as a world leader in developing cricketing world. I look forward to discussing with Tim Bermuda's hosting next year of the ICC's World Cricket League Division 3 tournament, in addition to furthering our work to secure ODI accreditation for the National Sports Centre. I trust that our players and supporters will be inspired by this visit and I have every confidence that our team will qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 2014 event in Bangladesh."

This year's event will be the fourth ICC World Twenty20 competition and the first to be held in an Asian country as the last three events were held in South Africa, England and the West Indies respectively. The reigning champion of the men's tournament is England after the team beat Australia in the West Indies in 2010, while Australia's women's team are the current female reigning champions after it beat New Zealand in the double-header final in Barbados two years ago.

President of the BCB, Lloyd Fray said: "I am very proud to be able to applaud the sterling work of our very own CEO Neil Speight, who, in his capacity as a Director of the ICC Executive Board and Chairman of the 96 Associate and Affiliate countries, has played an instrumental role in convincing the ICC Executive Board to increase the number of countries competing in this competition from 12 to 16. The 2014 tournament, to be hosted by Bangladesh, will feature six Associate/Affiliate countries. This 300% increase is an inspiration to the developing cricketing world and I expect that this exciting news will further encourage our young men to work hard at their game and recognise that Bermuda has an excellent chance to qualify for this great event."

Terry Roberson, General Manager of Bermuda CableVision, said: "Clearly Bermuda is a nation of cricket lovers with a two-day public holiday devoted to the game. We are therefore delighted to be teaming up with ESPN to bring coverage of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 to the island to continue the passion and excitement experienced during the Annual Cup Match Classic. Further scheduling details will be announced on ESPN, Bermuda CableVision Channel 22, in the coming weeks."

ICC Global Development Manager, Tim Anderson said: "I am very happy to be able to bring the trophy to Bermuda, a country with a rich tradition and culture of cricket. The Bermuda Cricket Board has an excellent international reputation. Bermuda is the smallest country to qualify to the ICC World Cup and the ICC U19 World Cup."

Mr. Anderson added: "The Bermuda Cricket Board has consistently proven itself to have an outstanding and comprehensive development program that regularly wins major ICC Development Awards. I look forward to next year's hosting of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 which will provide two teams with the chance to compete at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand in 2014. Next year will also feature Bermuda battling to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, I wish them all the best in their efforts to reach their third ICC global event."

The format of the men's 2012 competition will see four groups of three in a preliminary round. India and England are in the same group as Afghanistan. Ireland will battle it out in the group that also comprises the West Indies and Australia. Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe make up another group, with the final group consisting of Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh.

Meanwhile the women's event, featuring the top eight female sides in the world, will be played in Galle for the group stage of the tournament. The semi-finals and final of the women's event will be played as double-headers alongside the men's event in Colombo as has been the case with the last two ICC World Twenty20 events.

More information is available at: www.icc-cricket.com/events_and_awards/twenty20