As a successful West Indies tour of England nears a completion, cricket trudges its way back after the uncalled for hiatus due to pandemic. Ireland tour of England is scheduled next, beginning on July 30. The three match ODI series will officially kick off Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday July 27, confirmed the launch of the inaugural World Cup Super League, which was originally scheduled to begin in May with Bangladesh tour of Ireland but was delayed due to the pandemic.
ICC Cricket World Cup Super League was first announced by ICC as a part of its Future Tours Programme (FTP) on 20 June, 2018. The league that intends to bring context to ODI cricket, will determine qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
World Cup Super league will bring context to ODI cricket
ICC General Manager – Cricket Operations, Geoff Allardice, commenting on the launch, said, “We are delighted to get the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League underway with World Cup winners England against Ireland.
“The league will bring relevance and context to ODI cricket over the next three years, as qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is at stake. The Super League gives cricket fans around the world even more reasons to watch as the drama of league cricket unfolds.”
The 12 Test-playing nations and the Netherlands, who gained ODI status by winning the ICC World Cricket Super League in 2017, will compete in the league. The top seven teams along with India (the hosts) in the league will automatically earn a spot at the 2023 World Cup.
Each of the 13 sides will take part in as many as eight (3-match) series over a two-year period against mutually agreed opponents on a home-and-away basis.
The five remaining sides will fight against Associate nations, which progress from the Cricket World Cup League 2, for a chance to qualify for the 2023 World Cup through the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
Last week ICC had confirmed the window for next three ICC events and shifted ICC World Cup 2023 from the February-March window to October-November that year, with the finals on November 26, citing “better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process”.
“This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play,” ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney had said.
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