Hosts South Africa unveil plans for 2027 World Cup

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Cricket South Africa Thursday announced a local organising committee for the 2027 50-over Cricket World Cup - and revealed that 44 of the 54 matches will be played at eight venues in South Africa.

The remaining 10 matches will be played in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

It will be the first men's Cricket World Cup in Africa since the 2003 version was staged in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

South Africa has hosted two Women's World Cups since then - the 2005 50-over competition and the 2023 T20 World Cup when the Proteas lost to Australia in the final.

Former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel will head the local organising committee.

Manuel, who was part of South Africa's first democratically elected parliament, served as minister of trade and industry, minister of finance and minister in the presidency and has been involved in various business endeavours. This is his first foray into sport.

"I've done many different things in my life. Sports administration is not one of them," he said at a press conference in Johannesburg.

"Trying to do this late in my life is not easy for me. We have seven independent non-executive directors, two of whom served on the LOC for 2010, very good legal people, strong financial people and representatives of the minister and the presidency. We must make that commitment to South Africa, to sport, to the durability of the exercise. This is a nation-building exercise."

In a statement, CSA said matches in South Africa will be played in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, Bloemfontein, East London and Paarl.

Newlands is among the grounds receiving new floodlights as part of the 2027 World Cup upgrades project.

Along with the Wanderers, SuperSport Park and Kingsmead, Newlands will also make use of drop-in pitches, which are already in development, a report in www.cricinfo.com said.

CSA opted for drop-in surfaces as a more cost-effective solution to full relaying of the squares at the venues.

These are expected to be ready to be played on next season - 2026-27 - a full year ahead of the World Cup.

CSA chairperson Pearl Maphoshe said: "CSA's vision is to stage a global, inspiring event which will reflects the face of South Africa - diverse, inclusive, and united."