On Monday, the International Cricket Council officially kicked off the Cricket World Cup Super League. This new competition serves as the qualifying path for the 2023 World Cup in India, featuring a lineup of the world's top 12 teams plus the Netherlands, who earned their spot by winning the 2015-17 ICC World Cricket League.
The International Cricket Council, on Monday, launched the Cricket World Cup Super League to determine the participants of the 2023 World Cup, which will be hosted in India. The top 12 teams and the Netherlands, who had won ICC World Cricket league in 2015-17 will feature in the Super League.
India will automatically qualify as the host nation, meaning the remaining seven spots will go to the highest-ranked teams in the league. To decide this, each of the 13 participating teams is scheduled to play four home ODI series and four away series.
The scoring system is straightforward: 10 points for a victory and 5 points if a match ends in a tie or is washed out. While the official format consists of three-match series, teams can arrange extra games; however, only the first three matches count toward the league standings.Super League fixtures will be three-match series but the teams will be allowed to schedule additional matches. However, there will be no league points awarded for the additional matches of the series and only three matches will be considered.
The league will officially get started on July 30th, with an opening series featuring the reigning world champions, England, taking on Ireland.
The ICC introduced the Super League back in 2018 with the goal of making One Day Internationals more meaningful and competitive, mirroring the structure of the Test Championship.
The competition was originally slated to begin in May 2020, but the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the ICC to push the start date back.
Because of the delays caused by the pandemic, the ICC also shifted the 2023 World Cup window from February-March to October-November to ensure the Super League had enough time to be completed.
As for the teams that struggle, the bottom five in the Super League will have to fight for the final two berths in the World Cup qualifier. That qualifying tournament will feature 10 teams, including various associate nations.ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier, where 10 teams will take part. The associate nations will take part in these qualifiers.
Geoff Allardice, the ICC General Manager of Cricket Operations, expressed his excitement about the launch, stating that the council is thrilled to start the tournament with the clash between England and Ireland.Commenting on the launch, Geoff Allardice, ICC General Manager – Cricket Operations, said as quoted by ICC, “We are delighted to get the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League underway with World Cup winners England against Ireland.
According to Geoff Allardice, this league will give 50-over cricket a renewed sense of purpose and provide a thrilling experience for cricket fans worldwide.