Essex County Cricket Club is "optimistic" that it will play a Twenty20 match at the London Stadium next season "on a drop-in pitch that will serve as a trial run for the two 2019 World Cup fixtures to be held at the ground," according to Elizabeth Ammon of the LONDON TIMES. The discussions between Essex, Newham Council and the London Legacy Development Corp. have been "very positive," according to an Essex source. The council "provisionally agreed to help with funding the costs of the match," which are expected to be about £500,000 ($621,950). The source said, "There are still logistical issues to overcome -- not least the development and cost of a drop-in pitch, but we are very hopeful of at least one match there during July or August 2018." A feasibility study this year concluded that the stadium "would be suitable for cricket after a reconfiguration that would require seats being removed, additional turf being laid and the use of a drop-in pitch." The England & Wales Cricket Board assigned funding of £2M ($2.5M) "for the development of a drop-in pitch at the stadium" (LONDON TIMES, 4/4).
