2019 Cricket World Cup final and Wimbledon final to happen on same day in same city
Which is the first place that comes to your mind when you think about the 'Home of Cricket'? You are right, it is the Lord's cricket ground. And which is the first place that comes to your mind when someone asks you about the 'Home of Tennis'? You are right again, it is Wimbledon indeed. Both the venues, less than 10 miles apart, will brace up to host the finals of the biggest events of their respective sports on Sunday, the 14th of July, 2019.
Yes, cricket's biggest tournament - the ODI World Cup and tennis's most prestigious tournament - the Wimbledon, will take place around the same time next year. While ICC announced the fixtures for next year's World Cup was announced on 26 April this year, it was speculated that Wimbledon's slot would be shifted to ensure smooth functioning of both events. However, as per the trend for the last four seasons, Wimbledon is taking place in its slotted window.
Till 2014, the Wimbledon Championships used to begin on the second last Sunday of June, so that the men's singles final would take place on the first Sunday of July. However, since 2015, Wimbledon has shifted its window by a week with most of the matches being played in July - mostly due to the harsh summer that has resulted because of climate change.
While the Wimbledon Championships have been played annually for over 140 years, the cricket World Cup took place for the first time in 1975. Four ODI World Cups - 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999, as well as the 2009s ICC World T20 took place in the United Kingdom. And while the finals of all these five cricket World Cups took place at Lord's, none of them coincided with the men's or women's Wimbledon final.
And the same goes for 2004 ICC Champions Trophy and 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final that took place in London, 1993 and 2017 Women's World Cup finals, the 2009 Women's World T20 final and even the 2013 Champions Trophy final and 1973 World Cup final that took place at Edgbaston - the birthplace of tennis.
While England is a popular sporting destination and the birthplace for many a sport including cricket and tennis, the country is home to many fans from around the world during the summer. Its capital city London is also host to many popular football and rugby venues, besides other sports including athletics.
But many fans, from the UK and abroad, would love to watch the grand finale of cricket as well as tennis's biggest tournaments. If any of those fans get lucky enough to get tickets for both the matches on the 14th of July, they would have to choose one and give away the other ticket - unless he or she decides to drive between venues to witness some of the most historic moments in sporting history.
Lucky would be the one who manages to watch the finale of his or her favorite sport uninterrupted. Fans should hope that London's unpredictable weather does more good than bad if it is to show up in attendance at all.