PIX: 100 Days For T20 World Cup!

IMAGE: Australia Captain Aaron Finch during the T20 World Cup trophy tour launch at the Crown Riverwalk on the Yarra River in Melbourne, July 8, 2022. Photographs: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

The countdown to the T20 World Cup 2022 has begun!

Amid a sea of young fans and former cricketers including Waqar Younis, Morne Morkel, Shane Watson, Australian women's cricketers Tayla Jade Vlaeminck and Georgia Wareham, Australia's T20 Captain Aaron Finch led the T20 World Cup Trophy tour launch at the Crown Riverwalk in Melbourne on Friday.

IMAGE: Finchy high fives a young fan during a game of cricket at the T20 World Cup Trophy tour launch.

'With just 100 days to go until the start of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup there is a real sense of excitement ahead of the 16 teams coming together in Australia to compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket,' ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said.

IMAGE: The T20 World Cup Trophy Tour Launch with the Yarra River in the backdrop.

The trophy will travel across four continents before returning to Geelong on 16 October, when the tournament gets underway. The final will be played on Sunday, November 13.

The trophy tour is set for 35 locations in 13 countries across four continents, more than ever before. The men's T20 World Cup trophy will make stops in Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Namibia, Nepal, Singapore and Vanuatu for the first time, taking the sport to more fans in different countries to get a glimpse of T20 cricket's ultimate prize.

IMAGE: Fans, young and old, were present in numbers at the T20 World Cup trophy launch.

Finch-led Australia are the defending champions, having beaten New Zealand by 8 wickets in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.

IMAGE: Shane Watson, Georgia Wareham, Aaron Finch, Tayla Vlaeminck, Waqar Younis and Morne Morkel at the T20 World Cup trophy launch.

IMAGE: Bangladesh cricket fans at the T20 World Cup trophy launch.

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