2023 World Cup Set To Be A 10-Team Affair With Different Qualification Process

Just like the forthcoming 2019 ICC World Cup, the 2023 ICC World Cup will also be a ten-team event. The qualification process, however, will be significantly different.

In the new format, there will be a three-step process in which 32 teams will partake in an elaborate qualification process involving 372 matches overall starting from July 2019 till May 2022.  The top eight will automatically qualify based on their performance in the 13-team ODI League. And the remaining five teams from the 13-team ODI league along with 19 Associate nations will fight it out for the two available spots in the 2023 ICC World Cup.

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12 full members along with Netherlands, who won the three-year WCL Championship, will play in Cricket World Cup league starting May 2020. Each of the 13 teams will play exactly 24 matches. Hosts along with seven teams from the CWC league will qualify directly for the World Cup 2023.

The other five, however, will still have a chance to make it to the World Cup. For that, they will have to play the Qualifier.  The second league or the CWC League 2 will consist of seven associate members ranked between 14 to 20 as per World Cricket League structure. These seven teams will each play 36 matches with the top three qualifying for the Qualifiers 2022. On the other hand,  the bottom four will head to the Qualifier Play-offs.

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The third league or the CWC Challenge League will have 12 associate members with each playing 15 matches to bag the two spots in the Qualifier Play-offs. The bottom two teams from each group will play the Challenge play-off.

The governing body of the game is facing the heat for restricting the 2019 World Cup to a ten-team affair. However, ICC CEO Dave Richardson feels that the new system will cater to the earlier demands.

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“To date the World Cricket League has played an important role in improving standards in Associate Member cricket, but feedback from our consultation with Members clearly articulated the need for more frequent playing opportunities and greater certainty over when they would be playing.

“The new structure significantly increases the number of matches and competitive playing opportunities for our Members as well as shortening the whole qualification process to two and a half years, when previously it was six. There is a clear pathway now for teams looking to qualify for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup,” he said.

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