Daily Times

CARDIFF: Cardiff is all set to take centre stage in the closing stages of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, with cricket taking over the city. As the tournament enters its final round of group matches, Cardiff will host two big games that will help decide which teams reach the final at rhe Oval on Sunday June 18. On Monday, Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in the final match of Group B, with the winners guaranteed to progress to the semi-final. Then on Wednesday England will return to Cardiff to face the runners-up of Group B for a place in the final. Steve Elworthy, the tournament director, said here Friday: “Cardiff is set to play a key role in the closing stages of the tournament, with two big matches set to be hosted there. Monday will see the decisive final match in Group B, then Wednesday will see England return to Cardiff for the semi-final. Excitement is building as we reach the business end of the tournament and as part of that we are set to take over the city on Tuesday with cricket activities for fans to practice their skills. People should head down to St Mary’s Street, Churchill Way and Working Street to get involved.”

Fans in Cardiff will get a chance to take part in cricket activities, when cricket takes over the city centre on Tuesday. Between 10.30am and 6.30pm, St Mary’s Street, Chruchill Way and Working Street will have activities including kwik cricket, bat in the stone and points scoring games with chances to win tickets. Fans can also see a larger-than-life superhero-inspired mural depicting the story of tournament in a comic strip, which is located on the walking route from the train station to the stadium. The Mural on Millennium Way (at the junction with Castle Street) was created by DC cartoonist, John McCrea. It is the second of three that he has created for the tournament, with the first featuring in the Fan Park which was in Birmingham last weekend.

The third artwork and culmination of all three comic strips, will be unveiled at the Oval, London, ahead of the tournament final on 18 June.

Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris said: “We’re really excited about hosting these two fantastic fixtures in Cardiff as the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 reaches the decisive end of the tournament. It is great to be hosting a world tournament because you see the best cricketers on show. We’ve worked closely with the ICC to arrange a great deal of activity with local school groups as well as in the city centre in the lead up to the tournament fixtures and particularly ahead of the semi-final to celebrate the competition and engage the local community. We have two very important games of cricket coming up,” added Morris. “We have Sri Lanka and Pakistan here on Monday and it is always a great atmosphere with their fans. Then it’s the semi-final and England have played a lot of cricket here in recent years so they know this ground well and in the last 10 years England have only lost two games of cricket here. We are expecting a good atmosphere whoever they play.”