Cricket will make its Olympic return in 2028 (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The International Cricket Council’s all-powerful board met on Saturday in Singapore as part of the governing body’s annual conference.
Several big ticket issues were discussed at length before final decisions on Sunday, which ends the four-day AGM.
Los Angeles Olympic Qualifying
Regional rankings are set to largely decide which teams make the cut for the men’s competition played from July 12-29 in Pomona, 30 miles east of Los Angeles. Under the proposal, the top ranked team in Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa will automatically qualify alongside host U.S, who would represent the Americas.
The final spot will be determined by a qualifier. Allocation via the ICC’s T20 rankings at a cut-off date had been deemed as the likely outcome, but as I reported recently qualifiers had received a groundswell of support.
There have been concerns over costs and logistics amid cricket’s congested calendar, but in what appears a compromise, a single qualifier is likely to ensue. The West Indies – comprised of various nations in the Caribbean – will likely have their own regional competition to determine which country will compete for the qualifier.
The T20 World Cup is set to determine the women’s Olympic spots. It is not known whether the U.S. will receive an automatic spot.
It is hoped that more teams will compete in the cricket competitions for Brisbane 2032.
Cricket will be played at the Los Angeles Olympics (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty … More
32-Team T20 World Cup
An expanded 32-team T20 World Cup has been mooted as a working group looks into cricket’s formats and major competitions.
The six-man working group will be led by New Zealand’s Roger Twose and comprise bosses from the power nations India, Australia and England.
Twenty teams competed at last year’s T20 World Cup and that number will remain the same for next year’s edition after 16 teams had participated in the events from 2016-22.
But there is a desire for an expanded T20 World Cup after the recent qualification of Italy underlined cricket’s depth is increasing beyond traditional footholds.
There does not appear any sentiment to increase the number of teams at 50-over World Cups, which will be a 14-team competition in 2027 after being limited to just 10 in the previous two editions.
A radical plan to split Test nations into two divisions will also be looked at by the working group. Promotion and relegation along with how funds would be distributed loom as sticking points.
India are the defending T20 World Cup champions (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
USA Cricket Set To Avoid Suspension For Now
Embattled USA Cricket is set to avoid immediate suspension of its ICC membership and be given three months to address its governance issues.
The governing body was put ‘on notice’ at last year’s AGM due to the long-time governance issues, with its funding controlled by the ICC. If deemed to still be non-compliant then it would be suspended and ultimately face expulsion as a member.
There is a lot of scrutiny over the state of American cricket with the Los Angeles Olympics just three years away and and the U.S. being a target market for the ICC give
USA Cricket chair Venu Pisike and CEO Johnathan Atkeison have been at the meetings in Singapore.