February 19, 2011 the first match in the 2011 Cricket World Cup will take place. This event will be the tenth Cricket World Cup which will be hosted by three South Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. This will mark the first time Bangladesh has co-hosted this event.

The Cricket World Cup will use the One Day International format. This will involve fourteen national teams who will be participating in the February and March cup. The tournament will be round robin and knockout. The teams presently consist of ten full members. Each of these members automatically qualify. The remaining four teams each had too qualify for the tournament. The qualifications were held in South Africa. The associate teams will be Ireland, Canada, Netherlands, and Kenya.

The full-members for the competition include Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe. Earlier this month the mascot for the tournament was announced. This event took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It unveiled a happy-go-lucky elephant.

All of the buzz behind the 2011 Cricket World Cup has brought about a bidding war for broadcasting rights. The International Cricket Council sold the rights, for $2 billion, to ESPN Star Sports. The event will be broadcast around the world in more than 200 countries.?