With the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Final to be held at the MCG, Fox Sports cricket correspondent Sarah Jones says Melbourne is now comfirmed as Australia's sports capital. UPDATE: LORD Mayor Robert Doyle says Melbourne hosting the 2015 World Cup cricket final at the MCG "will be huge for the city," and any clashes with the Grand Prix "will be managed." Victoria has seen off intense competition from across Australia and New Zealand to win the final, held on March 29, 2015. Every major centre campaigned hard, well aware of the huge financial benefits. It will also draw a massive TV audience - a billion fans worldwide are expected to tune in when the 'G hosts the final match. From AFL Grand Finals to Boxing Day Tests, The Friendly Olympics and 'that' rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, the MCG really is the spiritual home of Australian sport. Christchurch will host the opening match on Valentine's Day - February 14, with Australia facing England on the same day at the MCG. It will the first of 49 matches over 44 days at 14 venues across Australia and New Zealand. The tournament details were announced by the International Cricket Council in Melbourne today. The 14 host cities are Melbourne, Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier, Nelson, Hamilton, Hobart, Perth, Sydney and Wellington. Premier Denis Napthine said the 2015 World Cup will be a "terrific event across Australia and New Zealand." "Thank you for choosing our city and state to play such an important part in this event," Dr Napthine said at the official announcement attended by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, International Cricket Council chief executive Dave Richardson and a host of former stars, including Test legends Dennis Lillee, Ian Chappell, Adam Gilchrist and Mike Hussey. While it is Valentine's Day there will be no love lost between Australia and England as they do battle then. The Premier said he hoped the tournament would "stimulate many young people to be enthusiastic about cricket." "We look forward to the first ball on February 14 to the final at the end of March," he said. Cr Doyle said "it didn't matter" if the State Government paid a fee as part of the bidding process. It is a wonderful event for the city. It is in our best month. We may have a little scheduling problem there. I don't know whether that is the weekend of the Grand Prix scheduled for 2015 but I am sure all of that can be managed," he told 3AW radio. It's not just the final ... it's that the lead-up is huge, the international attention is huge, every hotel room will be full. All of our restaurants will be full. It will be like the British Lions Tour and Liverpool Football Club put together. It will be huge for the city. Cr Doyle said the world event "was up there with the very biggest of them." "Particularly for the subcontinent, this is a bigger focus for them than the World Cup or the Olympics," he said. Therefore the benefits for us and the economy are not just for the event, it is the downstream benefits as well. Mr Rudd said $150 million will go into stadium upgrades ahead of the competition. "We won't be able to keep people away," he said. In total the 2015 World Cup will deliver $360 million of expenditure. On co-hosting the event with New Zealand, Mr Rudd said he "couldn't think of a better country to share this with." Ralph Waters, chairman of World Cup 2015, said: "More than a million people will attend matches but more than a billion will watch on TV around the world." The 1992 Cricket World Cup final held at the MCG was a spectacular event, attracting a then record one-day crowd of more than 87,000 to the stadium despite Australia's early departure from the tournament. Final venue: MCG POOL 1 - Eng, Aust, SL, Bang, NZ, Qualifiers 2 & 3 POOL 2 - SA, India, Pak, WI, Zimb, Ireland, Qualifier 4. Tournament will start on Feb 14, 2015 with NZ v SL in Christchurch followed by Aust v Eng at MCG with David Hurley