ICC Cricket World Cup case study

Qdos Event Hire was contracted by NEP Broadcast Solutions to provide temporary accommodation at 11 locations across England and Wales to house the numerous teams and masses of equipment required to deliver the successful broadcast of the ICC World Cup Cricket 2019 on behalf of ICC TV. With 48 matches played between 30th May and 14th July and a commitment to viewers that this would be the most coverage to date, NEP’s requirements were extensive.

More than 100 modular units and cabins, in various sizes and configurations, were supplied in total at Bristol County Ground, Cardiff Wales Stadium, Hampshire Bowl, The Oval, Trent Bridge, Country Ground Taunton, Durham Riverside and Old Trafford, Headingly, Edgbaston and Lord’s. The set up at the larger venues for the higher profile matches included:

Production – 20’ x 16’CTX Modular units

Engineering – 20’ x 16’ CTX Modular units

Office & Editing Suites – 24’ x 9’ cabin

Audio – 16’ x 9’ cabin

Visuals/ Replays – 32’ x 10’ cabin

Enhancements – 32’ x 10’ cabin

Star Sports – 32’ x 10’ and 24’ x 9’ cabins

Qdos designated a dedicated project manager, who oversaw the install at each of the 11 sites and was the single point of contact for the client throughout, along with a team of support engineers. As the units all included air-conditioning units, the team was on-hand 24-7 to deal with any maintenance issues.  

The units were customised to meet the exact needs of the 120 members of crew onsite who were responsible for the live broadcasts, from production personnel and directors to sound engineers and visualisers. Some cabins required some modifications to ensure that the extensive cabling needed to deliver the state-of-the-art HDR coverage could be accommodated.  

In addition, for the first time at a Cricket World Cup, 360° replays were produced with multiple camera feeds stitched together to create stunning video that helped to provide in-depth analysis of big moments in the game. The coverage was also complemented with a variety of analytical and visual enhancements including the use of Player Tracking. The sheer volume of equipment and technology involved to create this footage was staggering. It was impressive just how much kit they were able to fit within the units.   

Viewers were gripped by the coverage with matches recording viewing figures. England beat New Zealand in a thrilling final on Sunday 14th July to win the men’s Cricket World Cup for the first time in their history.