Mumbai: Public displeasure from a section of cricket’s Associate nations over the change to the ODI World Cup format is unlikely to cut ice with the International Cricket Council (ICC). After cricket’s Olympic foray, the governing body is moving ahead with a mandate to use T20 as the vehicle of growth. The road to the ODI World Cup, therefore, may continue to be arduous for more reasons than one.
On Monday, after two unproductive rounds of meetings with ICC, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (the Netherlands board) issued a joint statement calling the 2027 ODI World Cup format change “deeply disappointing” and “a setback to Associate member cricket”.
The statement raised the absence of “meaningful consultation” by ICC with the Associates, which the governing body is known to have disputed internally. ICC has not publicly commented on the issue.
Ireland, Namibia backed format change
As per information available with HT, the new format was first proposed in an ICC CEC meeting where it was supported by, among others, Ireland, which was directly affected by the change. Subsequently, in the board meeting, five Associate representatives – three outgoing and three newly inducted with one being common, were present when the format was on the table.
At least one Associate representative from Cricket Namibia – directly impacted – is known to have backed the idea. Namibia are co-hosts of the 2027 ODI World Cup. Reaching out to the entire Associate world with many teams way behind in the pecking order to qualify, was considered unfeasible.
Among topics broached by Scotland and Netherlands with ICC, it is understood, was commercial ramifications of a possible shortened stint in the World Cup. The ICC is looking at the glass half full as sticking with the 14-team event means every Associate team stands to benefit from participation fee with room to advance further on merit.
Coincidentally, on Monday two-time winners West Indies failed to make the cut for direct qualification, strengthening the argument that it’s not Associates alone who may have to make it the hard way. Afghanistan have qualified as the 10th team, behind Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh and co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Strengthen tournament core
At the heart of the matter are ICC’s efforts to make the ODI World Cup more commercially attractive. The last time the tournament was played among 14 teams was in 2015. In the early rounds of that tournament played in Australia-New Zealand, teams batting first won 17 of the 21 matches by a margin of over 60 runs. In 11 of those matches, the victory margin was over 100 runs. Such a repeat could severely hurt the future of 50 overs cricket amid the expanding T20 landscape. The past two ODI World Cups (2019 and 2023) were compactly structured across the best 10 teams.
Keeping the underdog spirit alive and retaining competitive balance has grown to become an unenviable tightrope in ODI World Cups as opposed to the T20 variety where upsets are more common. To avoid the backlash of reneging on the promise to return to 14 teams, the 2027 World Cup framework appears to be an ICC effort to find a happy medium.
The new format leaves the 12th, 13th and 14th placed ODI teams to go through a preliminary World Cup round, coined as ‘Super Series’, with the winner qualifying for the 12-team Round 2. The Super 7 Round that follows, to be played in round robin format, would then become the prime attraction.
It is safe to assume these tweaks are an effort to safeguard the broadcaster from the risk of one–sided matches in an elongated opening round.
The current format structure holds true only for the next edition, it is learnt. How many teams will compete in the 2031 World Cup and whether there would be a further tweak may be dictated by the market realities of the day.
Going by the current trend, the entry point to fight for the 50 overs Cup is only getting tighter. The next two ODI ICC events – 2029 Champions Trophy (India) and 2031 World Cup (India and Bangladesh) are scheduled in the sub-continent, factoring in commercial considerations.