Calcutta: The associates’ path to the 2015 World Cup has become clearer after the International Cricket Council (ICC) said there would be qualifying tournaments to determine the four participants that will join the ten full members in Australia and New Zealand.
The decision was taken at the ICC’s chief executives’ committee meeting in London on Monday.
The ICC adopted a development committee proposal to conduct a 50-over league involving eight teams, with the top two qualifying for the 2015 World Cup. The eight participants will include the top two sides from the World Cricket League Division 2 as well.
The six teams that fail to qualify from the league will be joined by the third and fourth sides from the WCL Division 2 for another qualifying tournament to determine the final two participants in the 2015 World Cup. The venue and date for the qualifying tournaments has not been decided.
“This will provide exciting context for the new 50-over league with every one of the associate and affiliate teams able to make their way from division eight of the World Cricket League all the way to the ICC Cricket World Cup finals,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said in a release.
The ICC had reversed its decision to exclude associates from the 2015 World Cup on June 28, during the ICC’s annual conference in Hong Kong.
The CEC supported the need to continuously improve over-rates in international cricket and confirmed that the existing regulations must be strictly enforced.
The CEC received a presentation from the ICC medical committee on their research work which included injury preventative programmes and on the safety of helmets which at times fail to prevent serious injury to batsmen. The medical committee will work with the helmet manufacturers to prevent the incidents of serious injury to the face and head.
Regarding the issue of venue accreditation — a new method for evaluating international venues — the CEC agreed to consolidate all the required standards into a new document but did not agree to a system of grading venues.
