Stream the ICC Cricket World Cup Online Wherever You Are

The ICC Cricket World Cup is about to begin, running from October 5th through November 19th, 2023. I’m thrilled to witness this global sporting spectacle, which consistently ranks among the most watched sporting events worldwide.

In a hurry? Get complete cricket coverage with Willow TV. You can get Sling Orange with the World Sports Mini add-on for $45/mo. This gives you 30+ live TV channels plus Willow, Willow Xtra, 3 beIN Sports channels, and Premiere. Save 50% on your first month of Sling TV.

You have many options.

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is one of the world’s most popular sporting events. This is helped by the sport’s massive popularity in some of the world’s largest countries, including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

For example, a meeting between India and Pakistan in 2015 was reported to have been viewed by 1 billion people. In addition, this event is popular elsewhere in and near the Indian subcontinent and in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies, and the UK.

The Cricket World Cup has also been gaining in popularity in the US. Of course, it already had a solid following from those who have ties to countries where the sport is widely played and watched. But an increasing number of Americans without those ties are becoming interested in major events such as this one.

The US national team has never participated in a Cricket World Cup. However, the American side has played a significant role in the history of the sport, taking part in its first international, against Canada in 1844.

Save 50% on Sling TV Now

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup

The first thing to know about the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is that all of its matches are One Day Internationals (ODIs). Those contests last around eight hours, including breaks.

So they are shorter than the days-long Test matches that are often scheduled between top countries, such as the Ashes between England and Australia. They are also longer than the Twenty20 (T20) version of the sport. Those matches are about three hours long. They have been steadily gaining in popularity since their creation in 2003.

History

The inaugural Cricket World Cup was held in 1975. Unsurprisingly, it was played in the birthplace of the sport: England. However, it was not the English side that prevailed.

Australia eased past the hosts in the first semifinal while the West Indies eliminated New Zealand in that round’s other matchup. The Caribbean-based team then prevailed in the final over Australia, which was contested at London’s historic Lord’s Cricket Ground. England’s opening match was also played at that famous venue.

After the West Indies won again in 1979, the trophy was passed around with four different countries winning the next four editions: India (1983), Australia (1987), Pakistan (1992), and Sri Lanka (1996).

The Aussies then became a dynasty with a three-peat, which included wins in 1999, 2003, and 2007, before claiming another in 2015. India won the 2011 edition while England finally won one in 2019, which came in dramatic fashion, after the first Super Over against New Zealand in Cricket World Cup history.

A major rule change was put in effect for the 1987 Cricket World Cup. Prior to that point, each inning had consisted of 60 overs. That number was reduced to 50 at that time, and that is where it has remained ever since.

Cricket World Cup Qualifying

No qualifying took place for the inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup. The squads were chosen either through status as a full ICC member — six sides got in via that route — or through being invited — Sri Lanka and East Africa entered the competition that way.

From the 1975 edition through 2019, the majority of participating teams were chosen due to either their membership or their spots in international rankings with qualifying competitions determining the final entrants.

That process changed for the 2023 competition. Other than any host countries, all teams will need to qualify for the event. This will be predominantly done through the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League with a Cricket World Cup qualifier event that follows determining the final teams.

This is a long process with the former competition running from 2020-23 and the latter taking place in 2023.

Not All Participating Squads Are National Teams

One of the ways that the Cricket World Cup is different from other major world sports events, such as soccer’s World Cups, rugby’s World Cups, and the multi-sport Olympics, is it involving a team that does not represent a country or territory but instead a multi-country region.

Players from several Caribbean countries are eligible to play for the West Indies cricket team. These include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, and US Virgin Islands.

Although the team has not played in the final since 1983, it has participated in every Cricket World Cup that has been contested making the quarter-finals several times and the semi-finals twice.

A former example of this type of team was the East Africa cricket squad, which existed from 1958 to 1975. It represented Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia and played at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.

2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup

The 10-team 2023 Cricket World Cup has been scheduled for October and November of that year. India will serve as the home country, and automatically qualifies. Seven participants will qualify through their Cricket World Cup Super League results while the other two will come from the World Cup qualifier that follows it.

The World Cup qualifier will involve the bottom five teams not counting India from the former competition, three sides from the Cricket World Cup League 2, and two countries from the League 2-Challenge League playoff tournament.

How to Watch the Cricket World Cup

In the US and Canada, the Cricket World Cup is expected to be televised on Willow TV.

Those looking to catch the action from the UK or New Zealand will most likely need to head to Sky Sports. Aussies should be able to watch games on Fox Cricket. Those in what many view as the hotbed of the sport, India, can expect to watch all of the action on Star Sports.

Streaming the Cricket World Cup

Fortunately, Americans can expect to have two options for streaming the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Sling TV

The simplest Sling TV option is getting its Willow Cricket package for $10/mo or $60/yr, which includes Willow and Willow Xtra. But you can also get those channels and several others for the same monthly price.

Save 50% on Sling TV Now

One way is through its World Sports plan, which includes beIN Sports, beIN Sports en Espanol, beIN Sports Connect, and Premiere in addition to those channels. Or you can get its Urdu Pack ($10/mo), which features channels such as Geo TV, ARY Digital, and TV One, and you would get its World Sports plan minus Premiere for free.

The Urdu Pack is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to language-specific plans that cover cricket. There are also plans for speakers of Bangla, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. They range in price from $10/mo up to $44.99/mo for the Hini Mega, which includes 27 channels.

If you decide to get the Sling Orange plan, which includes channels such as ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, and TNT and costs $40.00/month, you would receive the World Sports or Willow Cricket plan for half price: $5/mo.

You can get more information in our Sling TV review, or just see our guide to watching the Cricket World Cup and CWC finals on Sling.

Willow

Willow TV can be subscribed to directly for $9.99/mo or $60/yr. This provides you with Willow and Willow Xtra.

Unless you viewing is focused only on cricket, you are probably better off getting these channels through Sling TV.

ESPN+

The cheapest option available to you to watch the Cricket World Cup is subscribing to ESPN+ for $10.99/month (for Hulu, Disney+, ESPN+ for $13.99/mo). ESPN+ is expected to stream every game of the competition.

Sign Up for ESPN+ Now!

ESPN+ also features other major cricket competitions, including the T20 World Cups and Indian Premier League. And, of course, it provides varied non-cricket sports programming.

You can subscribe to ESPN+ directly, or you can get Hulu + Live TV and all of its 85+ live TV channel offerings for $82.99/month. This price includes access to ESPN+ and Disney+.

For more information read our ESPN+ review.

Non-US Options

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will also be available for viewing through various streaming services around the world. For example, NOW TV and Sky Go are expected to offer this competition to those based in the UK and Ireland.

Hotstar should be doing the same in Canada and India. Meanwhile, those in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan will need to use Yupp TV. Aussies can use Kayo Sports or Foxtel GO. Sky Sport Now provides streaming access to games for New Zealanders.

Devices to Live Stream the Cricket World Cup

Most likely, you are already using a device that is supported by the streaming services we discussed:

PlayStation gaming systems are supported by ESPN+ (v 4 only) and Hulu (v 3, 4, and 5). Hulu and Sling support LG smart TVs. Other devices are also supported to one degree or another. See our reviews for details.

2023 Cricket World Cup Schedule

Summing Up

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is one of the world’s most anticipated and watched sporting events, and you should be able to stream all of the action.

Those based in the US can stream Willow directly or through Sling TV for as little as $5/mo. Or you can watch via ESPN+ (directly or through Hulu) for as little as $10.99/month. Both are expected to carry the competition in full.

FAQs

When is the Cricket World Cup?

The exactly date of the ICC Cricket World Cup has not been set but it will start in October 2023. The event is held every four years and has stuck to this schedule for most of its run, the exceptions being a stretch that included events in 1987, 1992, 1996, and 1999.

It is usually held in the Northern Hemisphere’s spring, which was also the initial plan for the 2023 edition before that got pushed to the fall.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Follow me

Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.

Follow me

Latest posts by Frank Moraes (see all)

• How to Watch Pac-12 College Teams in 2024-25 - 08/06/2024
• States That Have Produced the Best Actors and Actresses - 09/06/2022
• US States With the Fastest Internet - 06/21/2022