The number of teams to take part in the 2019 Cricket World Cup has not been finalized, the International Cricket Council said yesterday as it responded to growing criticism that its proposed cut risked damaging the sport’s development.
Cricket chiefs have come under fire for their plan to reduce the number of teams involved in England in four years’ time to 10 from the 14 taking part in the ongoing tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
However, ICC chief executive David Richardson said in a telephone interview: “I’ve learnt never to say never to anything. I’m sure the format of the next World Cup will be debated after this one has finished.”
Ireland beat one of the Test nations for the third successive World Cup when they defeated the West Indies by four wickets in their Cup opener last week, while on Thursday, tournament debutants Afghanistan’s astonishingly rapid progress continued when they defeated Scotland by just one wicket to record their first World Cup win.
“I’m pleased with the performances of the qualifiers so far, but the bigger tests are still to come,” Richardson said.
“The question is: What do you want the World Cup to be? Do you want it to be a jamboree of world cricket or the pinnacle of the one-day game?” he added.
When asked what his feelings were following the initially improved showing by the four Associate sides taking part at the World Cup — Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates — Richardson said: “There’s a sense of relief. Our biggest concern before the tournament was that these teams would be uncompetitive.”
Richardson denied the 2019 World Cup would be a “closed shop” of the elite Test-playing nations.
As things stand, the eight top-ranked one-day sides as of September 30, 2017 will qualify automatically, with the final two spots to be decided by a qualifying tournament in Bangladesh in 2018.
Although they are both members of the 10-strong Test “elite,” Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have generally been ninth and 10th in the rankings and could well find themselves involved in a qualifying event featuring the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan.
“We didn’t want to go to 10 nations without providing a pathway where you could have the leading associates and the lower-ranked Test nations scrapping it out,” Richardson said.
“All will have an opportunity to qualify,” he said.
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