Qualification pathway for 14-team 2027 men's ODI World Cup approved

The 13-team ODI Super League will be scrapped after the 2023 World Cup, as cricket goes back to relying on ICC rankings as a system for qualification to the 50-over men's World Cup. For the 2027 men's World Cup, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, the top ten teams in the rankings at a scheduled cut-off date will qualify directly. Four more teams will be added to the main draw after a global qualifier.

The expanded nature of the 2027 event - from a ten-team tournament to a 14-team one - is what has pushed through the new qualification pathway, approved by the ICC Board this week. The scrapping of the league, which only began in July 2020, has been on the cards for a few months, as administrators try to squeeze out more time from a packed calendar and Full Members - of whom there are 12 - angle for more World Cup spots.

For the 2023 edition, which will be a ten-team event, nine qualifiers, excluding hosts India, are going to be determined by the rankings based on the 13-team ODI Super League, featuring 12 Full Members and Netherlands, with each team playing eight ODI series - four home and four away.

Ganguly replaces Kumble as cricket committee head
The ICC Board, which met on Tuesday, also approved the appointment of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly as the new chair of the ICC men's cricket committee. Ganguly will replace his former India team-mate Anil Kumble, who has been at the position for the maximum tenure of three terms - nine years in total - at the influential ICC panel.

"I am delighted to welcome Sourav to the position of Chair of the ICC Men's Cricket Committee," ICC chairman Greg Barclay said in a statement. "His experience as one of the world's best players and latterly as an administrator will help us shape our cricketing decisions moving forward.

"I would also like to thank Anil for his outstanding leadership over the last nine years which has included improving the international game through more regular and consistent application of DRS and a robust process for addressing suspect bowling actions."

While Ganguly, who also sits on the ICC Board, occupying two positions might be perceived as a conflict of interest, the ICC constitution has no clause that prohibits a cricket board chief/member to also be the head of an ICC cricket committee. Ganguly has previously been part of various global committees, even heading the BCCI technical committee while being on the MCC's world cricket committee.

Ensuring that the "umpire's call element of DRS" stays on despite vocal opposition from various quarters was among the key takeaways from the most-recent Kumble-chaired meeting earlier this year. At the time, a provision for teams to opt for like-for-like Covid-19 substitutes was also approved.