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The T20 World Cup of 2024, held in June across the USA and West Indies, concluded with India emerging as the champions in a thrilling final on June 29th.
In other developments, the ICC has recently formed a three-member committee to evaluate the organization of the tournament in America. Despite its overall success, the USA leg faced challenges that were unexpected.
Controversy surrounded the drop-in pitches used during the matches, where teams struggled to surpass the 150-run mark. Despite this, the low-scoring games added an intriguing twist, with fans showing a preference for the latter phase of the tournament over its initial stages.
The committee comprises Roger Twose, a former New Zealand cricketer, alongside directors Lawson Naidoo and Imran Khwaja, who serves as the ICC’s deputy chair. Reports indicate that the ICC faced financial losses exceeding USD 20 million due to hosting matches in New York, Florida, and Dallas.
“The ICC Board confirmed that there will be a review into the delivery of the ICC T20 World Cup. This will be overseen by three directors, Roger Twose, Lawson Naidoo and Imran Khwaja who will report back to the Board later in the year,” an ICC release stated.
The committee is set to scrutinize the roles of key ICC executives, with Chris Tetley already resigning, citing the strain of overseeing an annual ICC flagship event for both men and women.
Meanwhile, the ICC has issued a formal warning to USA Cricket and Cricket Chile, giving them 12 months to rectify their current non-compliance with membership criteria. The ICC highlighted deficiencies in governance, administrative structure, and systems within both boards.
“The ICC Americas office will work with Cricket Chile to support them in remedying their non-compliance. The Board agreed that a Normalisation Committee comprising of Board and Management representatives will be set up to oversee and monitor USA Cricket’s compliance roadmap and the ICC Board will reserve its right to suspend or expel the Member for continued non-compliance” the statement further read.
ICC has made crucial decisions regarding the T20 World Cup 2026 and Women’s T20 World Cup 2030.
The ICC’s Chief Executive Committee has recently announced several key decisions. These include allocating eight regional qualifying spots for the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and expanding the Women’s T20 World Cup 2030 to accommodate 16 teams.
They have also confirmed October 31, 2024, as the cut-off date for qualification for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier. In addition, Paul Reiffel, an ICC Elite Panel Umpire, has been appointed to the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee.
Looking ahead, the ICC faces the challenge of successfully hosting the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan. However, due to government orders, the BCCI may not send their team across the border, prompting the ICC to consider relocating the tournament to either the UAE or Sri Lanka.
