The much anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 opening ceremony kicked off with much pomp and glory at The Mall in London on Wednesday. The tournament, which takes place across England and Wales over the period of seven weeks, gets underway on Thursday, when hosts England play South Africa at The Oval. And Cricket World Cup 2019 is officially open! Captain Kane doing us proud #CWC2019 #openingparty pic.twitter.com/diOEfQnaMl — Lloyd Burr (@LloydBurr) 29 May 2019 Chacha Cricket joins the frenzy ✈️ Skydiving 🤸♀️ Parkour 🔥 Fire cricket 🎢 Roller coasters ➕ plenty in between! The #CWCTrophyTour, driven by @Nissan, has seen EVERYTHING! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yBmPqPhXcj — Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) 29 May 2019 Azhar Ali and Malala, an odd sight at the opening party @AzharAli_ & @Malala opening the batting for #Pakistan at #CWC19 Opening Ceremony!#CricketWorldCup 🏏 pic.twitter.com/y7fFA6e8F2 — Adnan Zaheer Khawaja (@Adnan_Zaheer) 29 May 2019 Captains meet The Queen at Buckingham Palace The Queen and The Duke of Sussex have met the captains of the #CricketWorldCup teams including Eoin Morgan and Virat Kohli #ICCWorldCup2019 📸: @YuiMok / @PA pic.twitter.com/w3s6kY3FVO — Johnny Goldsmith (@MirrorJohnny) 29 May 2019 The legend arrives at the party Look who's arrived at the #CWC19 Opening Party 👀 pic.twitter.com/QJAoUEWVfl — Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) 29 May 2019 Meanwhile, Pakistan will open their World Cup account with their first match of the tournament against the West Indies tomorrow on Friday. Ten teams are participating in the event, which like its 1992 predecessor, would follow a round-robin format, meaning that all the ten sides would face off against each other, with the top four teams qualifying for the semifinals.