2015 Cricket World Cup: This is why there's a Google Doodle

The tournament Australia and New Zealand starts tonight

A giant puppet of a batsman waves a bat during the opening ceremony of the ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup (AFP)

Google have released a new doodle today to mark the start of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

The tournament held its opening ceremony last night - featuring a giant puppet - in Christchurch's Hagley Park.

New Zealand will play in the tournament's opening game at 10pm tonight against Sri Lanka.

A giant puppet of a batsman waves a bat during the opening ceremony of the ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup (AFP)

A more mouth-watering clash comes later on, though, when England face co-hosts and long rivals Australia at 3.30am; Australia are the favourites to win on home soil while England are fourth.

The tournament will feature matches and runs for more than a month, the final not being played until 29 March.

There is a round-robin before the top four teams from Pool A and Pool B go into the quarter-final. From there tournament is a knockout.

England have been drawn with Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Scotland and Sri Lanka.