Edinburgh, July 15 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has announced a comprehensive structural overhaul of its major men’s events, which include introducing a three-stage format for the 14-team ODI World Cup and expanding the second stage of the T20 World Cup to a ‘Super 10’ format along with eliminators.

The decisions were finalized during the ICC’s Annual Conference in Edinburgh, following recommendations from the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC), with the governing body saying it’s “an objective to create more meaningful contests, elevate competitive standards, and enhance the experience for athletes and fans.”

While the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will continue to feature 14 teams, the tournament format will shift away from the traditional format. Instead, it will feature a three-stage competition leading to the finals. The lower-ranked three teams (Teams 12, 13, and 14) will initially square off in the round one named ‘Super Series’, with only the top team progressing to the main stage.

Round 2 will consist of 12 teams split into two groups of six teams playing 30 matches. The top three teams from each group, along with the next highest-placed team across both groups, will advance to a newly minted seven-team round-robin stage called ‘Super 7’ (worth 21 matches). The top four teams from the Super 7 stage will qualify for the semi-finals.

“The structure has been designed to strengthen the competitive narrative across every stage of the event, with matches from Round 1 and Round 2 carrying higher consequence with a highly competitive Super 7 stage witnessing 7 qualifying teams going through a round-robin stage to qualify for the semi-finals.

“The increased consequence and enhanced competitive intensity promises to enhance the overall experience for fans while continuing to provide emerging teams with the opportunity to compete on cricket’s biggest stage,” said the ICC.

Meanwhile, encouraged by the performance of emerging nations in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup edition, the ICC has decided to expand the second stage of the 20-team event from eight to ten teams.

The opening group stage will now feature five groups of four teams each (30 matches total), a shift from the previous format of four groups of five teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to the ‘Super 10’ stage, which will comprise two groups of five teams.

In a significant tweak to the knockout path, only the top team from each Super 10 group will directly qualify for the semi-finals. The teams finishing second and third in their respective groups will face off in cross-over ‘Eliminators’ to secure the remaining two semi-final spots.

“This promises to expand the representation of cricket’s emerging nations in the Super 10 stage while also delivering higher competitive standards. The addition of ‘eliminators’ where the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams from groups in the Super 10 stage compete against each other for spots in the semi-finals also then adds significant consequence to the closing matches of the Super 10 stage,” added the ICC.

The ICC Board also charted the roadmap for other teams to qualify for the 2028 T20 World Cup cycle. Notably, Scotland has been granted a direct entry into the Europe Regional Final, bypassing earlier stages due to the “exceptional circumstances” surrounding their participation in the 2026 event – where they came as a late replacement for Bangladesh.

Teams from the 2026 tournament that failed to earn automatic qualification will move directly to the Global Qualifier. They will be joined by eight teams emerging from regional qualifiers: two each from Africa, Asia, and Europe, and one each from the Americas and the East Asia-Pacific regions.

“The highest placed team from each region at the Global Qualifier, together with the next three highest-placed teams overall, will qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, subject to minimum performance criteria,” added the ICC.

While the format has been endorsed by the ICC Board upon the recommendations of the Development and Chief Executives’ Committees, the final stamp of approval for the marquee roadmap will be given after a review by the Finance & Commercial Affairs committee during the November meetings.

–IANS

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