A new and expanded global qualification system will be established to give the ICC Associate and Affiliate Members a distinct pathway towards the ICC World Twenty20, it has been decided.
The qualification tournament, which has previously involved six or eight teams, will be expanded to a 16-team tournament in early 2012 to give those sides the chance to represent their countries at the prestigious ICC World Twenty20 2012 in Sri Lanka.
Meeting in Jakarta, the ICC Development Committee has designed the new-look tournament to comprise the six which currently enjoy ODI/T20I status plus 10 qualifiers from regional Twenty20 events.
The exact details of the regional qualification network will be announced in due course but the intention is to give all 94 Associate and Affiliate Members a clear pathway of opportunity towards the finals of this truly global tournament.
In another exciting development, the committee has pledged US$2million towards major cricket facilities developments in leading and targeted Associates and Affiliates, in partnership with Members and third-parties.
Specifically, the Members eligible to apply, under a system to be finalised in due course, will include each of the top six-ranked Associates/Affiliates, China, USA and a Member nominated by each of the Africa, East Asia-Pacific and Europe regions together with any Associate or Affiliate scheduled to host certain ICC events.
Commenting on these decisions, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “These are two extremely exciting, strategic and encouraging developments for the future of our great sport. They represent a clear sign of our ongoing commitment to growing the game beyond its traditional boundaries and ensuring that each of our members has the opportunity to develop and become the best they can be.
“Cricket has never been stronger. We now have three viable formats of the game at international level – something no other sport can boast – and cricket continues to grow in popularity in almost every corner of the globe. These initiatives are steps along the path towards continued sustainable growth.
“Overall, it was a very productive meeting and I would like to thank Cricket Indonesia for hosting it so effectively and for welcoming all the delegates so warmly,” said Mr Lorgat.
While in Jakarta, the Development Committee received a presentation from Cricket Indonesia and attended the national under-17 championships, which involved teams from 12 regions across that vast nation. In addition, Mr Lorgat met with representatives from the Indonesian government and the national Olympic committee.
“Indonesia is an outstanding example of an Affiliate Member on an upward move. It is the fastest-growing member in terms of participation numbers and I believe this is due to excellent staff, volunteers, strategies, plans and partnerships that are in place,” added Mr Lorgat.
The number of ICC members, currently standing at 104, may continue to grow as the application of Seychelles for Affiliate Membership has now been forwarded to ICC Annual Conference 2010 for consideration.
In addition, the Development Committee has allocated the staging of three Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) events to Hong Kong/China (Division 3 in January 2011), the United Arab Emirates (Division 2 in April 2011) and Botswana (Division 7 in March/April 2011).
The ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2011, which will determine the four teams to join England, New Zealand, Australia and India at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 in India, will be staged in Bangladesh in November. The competing teams will be the West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Japan plus one qualifying team from the Americas and two teams each from Africa and Europe. This event will double as the women’s qualifying tournament for the ICC World Twenty20 2012 to be staged in Sri Lanka.
These allocations are all subject to the finalisation of logistical and budgetary arrangements in coming weeks and months.
The groupings for the eight-team WCL Div. 8 2010 event (6-12 November) in Kuwait have now been confirmed as follows:
Group A – Bhutan, Kuwait, Suriname and Vanuatu.
Group B – Bahamas, Gibraltar, Zambia and the next highest European qualifier (to come from the regional division 2 event, which runs from 13 to 19 July 2010).
