ICC plans new league system for ODI cricket
Jun 18, 2016 at 11:47 PM
The International Cricket Council is set to introduce a whole new system to revamp the ODI format by forming a 13 team league system in place, as per the latest reports.
The teams that finish in the top 2 will face against each other in a final as ICC are looking to improve the popularity of the game across the world.
The supreme governing body has been looking for innovative ideas to bring back the popularity of the ODI format as the format lost its attraction since the beginning of T20 Cricket.
The biggest problem for ICC is to increase the popularity of the format as only ODI World Cup is drawing the interest of the audience as the bilateral series have lost significance over the past few years.
ICC have already come up with the idea of introducing a two-tier system in test cricket which is losing on huge crowds in the recent years. The test system would likely be in place from 2019 with the concept of promotion and relegation like in the game of football.
The ODI format is also set to have a similar format which will see each team play against 12 other teams both home and away in a three-match ODI series. The governing council will attribute points based on the number of wins each team would be managing.
However, there is also a second tier league which will have associate member nations playing to get promoted to a top league where the 13 teams will be facing each other.
The league will hugely benefit the likes of Afghanistan, Ireland, and other associates as they would get the chance to play big teams like Australia, India and others in some of the iconic stadiums in the world.
The proposed system might come into place but it has to be seen whether the top cricket boards would accept the change as the discussion is set to come back in the next ICC meeting in Edinburgh at the end of the month.