The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board today unanimously approved a new qualification pathway for men’s 50-over tournament at the conclusion of a week of meetings in Singapore. The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board today unanimously approved a new ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup qualification pathway at the conclusion of a week of meetings in Singapore.
From 2019, a new simplified 50 over league-based qualification structure for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, will be introduced that will see the amount of cricket played as part of the Road to India 2023 rise to 372 matches across a 2-3 year qualification period. A full overview of the new structure can be found attached.
From 2019 onwards, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup qualification process will look as follows:
CWC Super League
CWC League 2
CWC Challenge League
No. of teams
13 (12 FMs + Netherlands)
7 AMs(AMs ranked 14 – 20 in current WCL structure)12 AMs
(AMs ranked 21 – 32 in current WCL structure)
Start date and duration
May 2020; 2 years
July 2019; 2.5 years
August 2019; 2.25 years
Total matches; Matches per team
156 matches; 24 per team
126 matches; 36 per team
90 matches; 15 per team
Qualification Pathway
Host + 7 teams to CWC 2023; Bottom 5 teams to CWCQ 2022
Top 3 teams to CWCQ 2022; Bottom 4 teams to CWCQ Play-off
Top team in each group to CWCQ Play-off; Bottom 2 teams in each group to CWC Challenge Play-off
League Status and rankings
ODI status; All members on ODI team rankings table
ODI status; All Members on ODI team rankings table
List-A status
In the interests of growing the game globally through the shortest format, the Board also agreed to relax the criterion for entry to both men’s and women’s teams in the World T20 qualification pathway. To enter the pathway, Members now only require eight unique domestic teams playing a minimum of five matches over the last two years, as opposed to 10 previously. Additionally, the entry fee for each Member to participate has been abolished.
Following consultation with Members, it has been agreed in respect to multi-day cricket, that the ICC will now seek Expressions of Interest from Members who have previously competed in the I-Cup and / or World Cricket League Championship, who are keen and committed to playing the multi-day format. Following this, a structured multi-day competition on a cost-sharing basis will be proposed giving Members the choice of playing longer form cricket.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “To date the World Cricket League has played an important role in improving standards in Associate Member cricket, but feedback from our consultation with Members clearly articulated the need for more frequent playing opportunities and greater certainty over when they would be playing.
“The new structure significantly increases the number of matches and competitive playing opportunities for our Members as well as shortening the whole qualification process to two and a half years, when previously it was six. There is a clear pathway now for teams looking to qualify for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
“T20, which is our global growth vehicle, already has a qualification structure in place and by removing the participation fee and lowering the entry levels we’re making it even easier for more Members to qualify in the future.”
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 pathway. (Photo Source: ICC)
Other Cricket Decisions
Women’s Qualification
It was confirmed that there will be a qualifying event in all five ICC regions with the top team in each region progressing to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier / ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier. This changes the qualification to the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup which will now see the hosts plus the top four teams from the ICC Women’s Championship qualify directly whilst the bottom three teams in that competition will join Bangladesh, Ireland and the five regional winners in the Qualifier.
Additionally, it was confirmed that there will be an expansion of the ICC Women’s Championship to ten teams in the next edition, meaning all ODI sides will compete in the league.
Event naming
As part of the ICC’s ongoing commitment to growing the women’s game and providing an inclusive environment, the Board unanimously approved a subtle but important change to the naming conventions of ICC events. From here on the gender of each event – men’s or women’s – will be specified as follows:
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup
ICC Men’s World T20
ICC Women’s World T20
Umpire Panel Composition
The Board approved the composition of the ICC Umpire Selection Panel. The panel will comprise Geoff Allardice, ICC GM – Cricket, Ranjan Madugalle, ICC Chief Referee, David Boon, ICC Referee and Sanjay Manjrekar, Broadcaster.
