Yesterday, as RTÉ and the BBC reported, the ICC Executive Board approved the recommendation that there should be a qualification process for the World Cup 2015. They also decided to reverse their previous decision to restrict the competition to 10 teams by approving a continuation of the 14 team format [10 full members and 4 qualifying associates]. For now.
The flip-side is that the ICC World Twenty20 tournaments in 2012 and 2014 will not be expanded – only 12 teams will continue to take part [10 full members and 2 qualifying associates]. In 2019 the Cricket World Cup will comprise 10 teams – the top ranked 8 teams and 2 qualifers.
The Irish Times’ Emmet Riordan pointed to the political manoeuvrings involved
International cricketing politics are believed to have played a huge part in the about turn, with the upcoming vote on whether to scrap the rotation system for electing the ICC president a key factor.
Pakistan and Bangladesh, the next two nations in line to pick a president, were opposed to any change in the system. In order to pass a resolution amending the rule, eight of the ten full members and 38 of 50 associates would have to vote in favour of the motion.
That seems to have been confirmed with the ICC press release on the second, and final, day of the Executive Board meeting.
The ICC Executive Board, following the strategic plan that was adopted in April and a firm recommendation from the Governance Review Committee today, unanimously agreed to undertake urgently an independent review of the ICC governance structures and processes. The Board therefore decided to defer the proposed constitutional amendment to the nominations process for election of the ICC President and accordingly withdrew its proposal to the Annual Conference in this regard.
The ICC Governance Review Committee had recommended that a wide-ranging, independent review should cover all governance-related matters including the possibility of appointing independent directors. The review will be required to be completed before the next ICC Executive Board meeting scheduled for October.
In the meantime, both the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have given undertakings not to nominate a candidate for ICC Vice-President before the external review is completed and the matter is again considered by the ICC Executive Board.
And although they don’t specifically mention the recommended “use of two new balls per innings – one from each end” in One-Day Internationals, the ICC Executive Board agreed with the CEC and Cricket Committee on
revised formats for One-Day internationals
[That’s not cricket! – Ed] Indeed.
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