Kathmandu, July 2
The International Cricket Council’s annual general meeting, and the meeting of the board has concluded in Edinburgh with little progress made in implementing proposals to adopt ‘sweeping’ changes to international cricket structures.
Associate members such as Nepal, Ireland, Afghanistan, and the Netherlands and their fans had been eagerly waiting for the ICC to make public the decisions made by the board meeting. Ahead of the meet, the international press was abuzz with reports that the ICC board could adopt sweeping changes to the game, allowing associate members better access to the top division in all formats of the game.
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The proposals
The ICC is working on a proposal to restructure the 50-over form of the game in the years to come. According to reports in the British press, if the proposal is implemented, an ODI league structure will be created with 13 teams playing each other for the championship title from the 2019 season.
The 10 ICC member countries that play Test cricket will be joined by three associate members in the league. Analysts believed the ICC was certain to pick Afghanistan and Ireland, but it was still undecided about the 13th side–with Nepal as a top contender.
Similar changes were proposed to the Test and T20 formats.
However, the ICC has failed to decide on the proposals, and referred the issue to a workshop in September.
In its media release on Saturday, the ICC said, “The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee held constructive discussions about the structure of international cricket and the establishment of new competitions in all three formats. Members were updated on the progress of the project, and all understood that more detail is needed before any final decisions can be made.”
According to the release, a workshop has been scheduled in early September in Dubai to facilitate discussion between Members on this project, and to work through some of this detail.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “This is an unprecedented opportunity for our sport to introduce a package of bilateral international cricket structures, which are merit and performance based, have context, enhance the value of bilateral international cricket and create a highly competitive environment for cricketers so they can provide more entertainment to spectators.
“The Member countries acknowledge and recognise the importance of international cricket across all its three formats and are committed to ensuring that it continues to grow in relevance and value for cricket fans around the world.
“This is a complex issue on many levels but I am heartened by the progress that has been made to date and during these meetings and look forward to the next meeting in Dubai.”
