Cape Town - The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to make its biggest overhaul in one-day international (ODI) cricket by proposing a new league, which could abolish the standard ODI bilateral series.
According to ESPNCricinfo, the proposal sees 13 nations playing (either home or away) a three-match series against every other country, which will accumulate to 36 ODIs on a three-year basis.
The ‘world league’ will be used to determine qualification and seeding for the World Cup and sides finishing at the bottom of the log will be relegated to the World Cricket League Championship, another new proposed second-tier ODI tournament.
Nations eager to schedule extra ODIs will be free to do so; however these friendly games will not impact the world league standings.
The ICC has introduced these ideas based on the ongoing decline of one-day cricket, which has been overtaken by the popular Twenty20 format.
Minnow cricketing teams, such as Ireland, Scotland, Nepal or Afghanistan may be included in the new league in order to broaden their scope and help them gain more exposure to international cricket.
England skipper, Eoin Morgan told the Telegraph that he did not feel the world league would be necessary, saying: “I am not sure it (cricket) needs it. Cricket is in a reasonable position at the moment. The Champions Trophy next year will highlight that; it is a great tournament whereby something is on every game.”
The Champions Trophy will be taking place next year from June 1-18 in England with South Africa seeded third in Group B.
The world league proposal will be discussed at the ICC’s annual conference at the end of this month in Edinburgh and if approved, the world league will come into force from 2019.