Hamilton begins the countdown to the ICC Cricket World Cup on Thursday with a match involving celebrities, school children and some of the region’s top cricketing talent.

The match, to be held in Garden Place, marks the one-year countdown to the tournament, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February and March 2015. Thursday morning’s event will also see the unveiling of a ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 special countdown clock.

Hamilton’s Seddon Park will be the venue for three pool matches during the tournament, with tickets for the games going on sale to the general public from 2pm on 14 February. Children’s tickets for the matches are $5, with adult’s tickets starting at $20, and they are available from Ticketek.

Thursday’s breakfast-time match will be held in Garden Place in Hamilton’s CBD from 7.15am. It will feature a mix of cricketing talent, including members of the Northern Knights and Northern Spirit first-class teams, former New Zealand captain Ken Rutherford, Tui Catch-A-Million winners Michael Morton and Jatinder Singh, plus a group of enthusiastic junior cricketers.

Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker says the Hamilton matches during the tournament include a fixture featuring India, one of the world’s most popular cricket teams and followed by legions of passionate fans.

“Seddon Park was buzzing during the two ODI matches on India’s current tour of New Zealand,” says Mayor Hardaker.

“For their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 match in Hamilton, we would expect another big turn-out of Indian supporters, and huge excitement as India strives to defend the trophy. The Hamilton matches will be a rare chance to be part of one of the world’s premier sporting events.”

For more information on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, including how to register for match tickets, visit www.cricketworldcup.com