The International Cricket Council has announced that the ICC ODI Super League which was supposed to begin in May this year would eventually begin with the upcoming series between England and Ireland that begins on July 30.
The ICC ODI Super League is a new qualification format that was introduced to provide context to the bilateral series that happen between the countries. Based on the rankings in the league, the qualifications for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup would be decided.
“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,” ICC’s GM Operation Geoff Allardice said.
“The decision last week to move the World Cup back to late 2023 gives us more time to schedule any games lost due to COVID-19 and preserve the integrity of the qualification process, meaning it will be decided on the field of play, which is important,” Allardice added.
“The start of the Super League was delayed due to COVID-19. As part of our contingency planning, we continue to work with Members to find windows where the rescheduled qualifying series can be safely and practically rescheduled,” the ICC stated.
The league will feature 13 teams with Netherlands alongwith the 12 full time members. Netherlands qualified by winning the World Cricket Super League 2015-17. The League would have each team play four home and four away three-match series.
While the top eight qualify directly, remaining five teams would have play the qualifiers along with the associate teams ahead of the 2023 World Cup. The two teams that top the qualifiers would be eligible to play in the World Cup.
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