ICC explores 12-team ODI World Cup, WTC semi-finals and global franchise T20 event

money control - The International Cricket Council (ICC) held its annual conference in Edinburgh last week, where senior officials discussed several key proposals that could shape the future of international cricket. With new broadcast rights negotiations on the horizon, the governing body explored possible changes to global tournaments, the international calendar, and the game's formats to enhance both competitiveness and commercial value.

The ICC is considering major changes to the men's ODI and T20 World Cups. One proposal would reduce the 50-over World Cup from 14 teams to 12 and introduce a new "Super Seven" stage, potentially starting with the 2027 edition in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. As part of the plan, only two teams, rather than four, would qualify through the global qualifying tournament.

The T20 World Cup could also see its "Super Eight" stage expanded to a "Super 10" format. Such changes would likely increase the chances of high-profile fixtures, particularly India vs Pakistan, one of cricket's biggest television attractions.

The ICC is also finalizing the 2027-31 Future Tours Programme (FTP). While England, India and Australia have already locked in their major fixtures, the remaining Full Members are expected to finalize the schedule during meetings in August and September.

Beyond the FTP, the governing body is considering reducing bilateral white-ball series and replacing some of them with mini-intercontinental quadrangular tournaments featuring two Full Member teams from each region.

There has been no major progress on expanding the World Test Championship (WTC) to 12 teams. An ICC working group, led by New Zealand board member Roger Twose, is still studying plans to include Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. However, no official proposal has been submitted, making it unlikely that the expansion will happen in the next Future Tours Programme (FTP).

One idea that received support during the ICC meetings was introducing semi-finals before the WTC final. Many believe this would make the competition more exciting, keep more teams in the race for longer, and give teams in the middle of the standings a better chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Despite reports suggesting that One-Day Internationals could be reduced from 50 overs to 40, the ICC is not planning to make that change anytime soon. Discussions are continuing on ways to keep the ODI format relevant, but no immediate changes are expected.

The ICC has also decided not to bring back the ODI World Cup Super League, which was used as the qualification pathway for the 50-over World Cup between 2020 and 2023. The competition was removed ahead of the 2027 qualification cycle and is not expected to return.

Instead, the governing body has encouraged Full Member nations to organize more matches between their 'A' teams and Associate nations in both ODI and T20 cricket to provide greater opportunities and help develop the game globally.

The ICC is moving closer to launching a global T20 club competition featuring the top teams from domestic franchise leagues around the world.

According to sources, the tournament could begin within the next few years if space can be found in the crowded international calendar. A meeting of franchise executives from major T20 leagues later this year is expected to help move the plans forward.

Similar to football's FIFA Club World Cup, the ICC sees the competition as a chance to bring together the world's best franchise teams while expanding its role in the growing franchise cricket landscape.