For the 2027 ODI World Cup, Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to expand the World Cup squad size from 15 to 17 players.
His remarks follow the ICC's introduction of a new structure that would make the ODI World Cup event longer and more physically taxing.
There are now 14 teams competing, four more than the teams that competed in the 2023 World Cup, thanks to the tournament's redesigned format. A Super Series round will also take place before the group stages, and a new Super 7 will take place before the semifinals.
The two finalists played eleven games at the 2023 ODI World Cup, including nine league games, the semifinal, and the championship match.
The two finalists will have to play a minimum of 13 games under the new format for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. These games will include five group matches, six Super 7 matches, the semi-final, and the final.
In light of Australia and New Zealand's struggles with injured players during the 2023 World Cup, McDonald thinks larger squads would help teams manage injuries and shifting playing conditions.
"One of the big things from my perspective is if it's going to be your pinnacle event, what do your squad sizes look like? We had the dilemma of what it looked like having a 15-player squad for the last World Cup. My push within it, any time you're playing more games in the same period of time, you don't want it to be attritional,” McDonald said in an interview with SEN radio.
"You want the best players to be available. So, there should be a conversation around—yep, that's great, you've landed at that. Okay, what about the squad sizes?” he added.
McDonald also stated that larger squads would assist teams in managing injuries amid a hectic international schedule and ensure that the top talents were available throughout the competition.
"So, let's carry the best players in there. Give us larger squads to be able to navigate through the early part, and then hopefully the pinnacle event has the best players playing, rather than being ruled out early on due to injury and the attritional nature of a World Cup," he further noted.
In addition, he questioned the new format, claiming that despite their recent rise in white-ball cricket, Associate nations might have fewer possibilities.
“It's an interesting structure to a tournament. I think the Associate nations have probably been penalized a little bit in that," he added.
At this point, ICC is likely to adhere to the 15-player squad requirement while making sure that each side has at least two days off in between games.
