Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Pawar asks ICC board to revisit decision on WC 2015

The ICC Executive Board will be requested to reconsider the composition of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 during the ICC Annual Conference in Hong Kong at the end of June 2011.

At the recent ICC Executive Board meeting in Mumbai on 4 April 2011, the Board decided to allow only the 10 Full Members to participate in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015. The Board had also confirmed its previous decision made in October 2010 that the next two World Cups (in 2015 and 2019) would comprise 10 teams.

These decisions were part of a strategic restructure of ICC events and the context and content for international cricket. As part of the restructure, a Test play-off for the top four teams was introduced and the ICC World Twenty20 was expanded to 16 teams.

The Board had also agreed in Mumbai that the 10 teams for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England would be determined on the basis of qualification.

However, after receiving representations from the Associate and Affiliate Members of the ICC, the ICC President Mr Sharad Pawar has decided to request the ICC Executive Board to revisit the issue in Hong Kong in June.

Pawar said: "I have given this matter further serious thought and will request the Board to consider this topic once more. I can understand the views of the Associates and Affiliates and ICC will seek to deal with this issue in the best way possible." Source