Bellerive Oval has been assigned a total of eight matches for the 16-team men’s competition - six games in the group stages and two second stage matches - but will not play a part in the 10-side women’s competition.

Together with Geelong’s Kardinia Park, Bellerive will be the home base for the group stages before the country’s traditional cricket grounds take centre stage.

The men’s and women’s final will be played at the MCG, with the SCG to host both women’s semi-finals and share hosting rights for the men’s semi-finals with Adelaide Oval.

No other ground will host more than seven games during the men’s tournament. 

Cricket Tasmania chief executive Nick Cummins said the scheduling was a great result for Tasmania and hoped it would help bring through the next generation of George Baileys and Tim Paines.

“We look forward to hosting the best T20 cricketers in the world in 2020 and to delivering successful and well-attended matches at Bellerive Oval,” Cummins said. 

“Being afforded the opportunity to host matches for an event of this calibre will not only showcase Hobart’s world class facilities to Australia and to the globe, but will importantly do so much to inspire the next generation of young girls and boys in Tasmania to pick up a cricket bat or ball.”

The haul of eight matches is nearly triple the fixtures Tasmania received in the 2015 ICC World Cup, when Bellerive Oval hosted Australia v Scotland, Ireland v Zimbabwe, and Scotland v Sri Lanka.

Test bowler Jackson Bird, who has played more cricket than most on Bellerive Oval in recent years, said he was thrilled Tasmanians would get to see World Cup matches in their own backyard.

The Tigers paceman said Tasmanian cricket fans would get to see great matches regardless of whether Hobart hosted the home nation. 

“It’s world class-venue and it’s great to see we’re getting eight games of the world T20,” Bird said.

“I’m sure the Tasmanian public would love to see the Australian team play down here, whether that happens we don’t really know yet, but there’s still a lot of world-class teams that’ll be coming down here and there’ll be a few emerging teams as well.”

The women’s competition will run from February 21 to March 8, with the men’s tournament to take place between October 18 and November 15.