The tournament is to take place throughout the month of June 2019 and be played at 10 venues.

David Collier, the ECB's chief executive, said the body was "honoured to have been selected to stage one of the largest and most important global sports events".

The competition would be a "wonderful boost to sport and cricket in particular throughout England and Wales".

After the signing in Dubai, where the ICC is based, Collier said the agreement enabled the ECB to enter into staging agreements with venues wishing to stage matches.

The organising team from the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, led by tournament director Steve Elworthy, would "commence the preparation work for this event immediately following the conclusion of the ICC Champions Trophy, which ends with the final at Edgbaston [Birmingham] on June 23".

England was awarded the 2019 World Cup as long ago as 2006.

It last hosted the competition in 1999.


The announcement coincides with renewed debate over whether cricket should endeavour to secure inclusion in the Summer Olympic Games, using its short-form Twenty20 format.

The sport could hold considerable appeal for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), not least owing to its popularity on the Indian sub-continent.

The earliest date by which the sport could effect an Olympic return would be 2024.

It has not been featured since the second Games of the modern era in Paris in 1900.

David Richardson, the ICC's chief executive, said the governing body was looking forward to "working with the ECB to deliver an outstanding tournament" in 2019.