The International Cricket Council (ICC) is reportedly exploring a few radical adjustments to restructure the sport’s calendar in the coming years.
These include reducing the length of One-Day Internationals, a new global T20 competition for franchises (like the now-defunct Champions League T20), the addition of extra continental events like the Asia Cup, and delimiting certain windows for the three forms.
The Guardian reports that all 12 full members will examine these during the ICC's annual general meeting on Wednesday in Edinburgh.
It is a component of the "strategic review" being carried out by McKinsey, an American consulting firm that the ICC engaged to investigate the sport. According to the study, the international organization is supporting such innovative concepts in an effort to ensure the survival of all three types.
Despite being one of the most popular sports worldwide, cricket is having difficulty becoming a truly international sport. Smaller countries have seen tremendous progress, but their sustainability is still in doubt as the popularity of T20s continues to put pressure on older ODI and Test formats.
As fans battle for context and attention in bilateral 50-over matches, the majority of sport stakeholders have assumed that the ODI format will be the first casualty of T20's expansion.
“If the game has to become global and it has to become an Olympic sport, the shorter the game, the more viable it is. And that’s how it’s going to become much bigger… T20 as a sport is here to stay. I’m not too sure about ODI cricket," Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said recently.
More radical suggestions, such as shortening the duration of ODIs, are being proposed in addition to defined periods, such as limiting ODIs to the 18 months preceding a World Cup. The ICC is also looking into expanding its schedule, since bilateral series that don't include two of England, India, and Australia are not very profitable.
Finally, the report added that the ICC might increase the WTC to 12 teams for the 2027 to 2029 edition, with Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in line to be involved. Only after the current cycle, until 2031, would any other changes begin to permeate the sport, according to the analysis.
(The Guardian report)
