International Cricket Council’s decision to alter format of men’s 2027 ODI World Cup draws concern

A row has broken out over the International Cricket Council’s decision to alter the format of the men’s 2027 ODI World Cup. This is scheduled to run between Oct. 4 and Nov. 21.

It will be the first to be held in Africa since 2003, hosted jointly by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, with the former allocated 75 percent of matches. As ICC full members, South Africa and Zimbabwe automatically qualify, but Namibia, an associate member, needs to qualify. Fourteen teams will compete, a change from the previous two events, which comprised 10 teams. Originally, it was planned to divide the 14 teams into two groups of seven, with the top three from each group advancing to a Super Six stage.

At the ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh on July 15, it was decided that the format would be changed to introduce a preliminary Super Series. In a dog-eat-dog situation, the three lowest-ranked qualifiers are to compete in a round robin, with only the top team advancing to the next stage. This means that two teams will be eliminated having played only two matches. In the original format, they would have had the opportunity to play a minimum of six matches. Associate countries run on tight budgets, so the prospect of traveling to southern Africa for two matches is unattractive, from both a cricketing and financial standpoint. Two associate teams will be denied the opportunity of advancing to the next stage, a round robin of two groups of six, mainly full member, teams. 

After that stage, the top three teams from each group, along with the best fourth-placed team across both groups, will advance to a Super 7 stage. This comprises a single round robin, the top four teams progressing to semifinals. At first sight, the new format seems to