|| Desk Report ||

The International Cricket Council announced that the qualification for the 2023 Men's World Cup will be significantly different from how it has been as a three-step process has been included whereby 32 teams will partake in an elaborate qualification process involving 372 matches overall starting from July 2019 till May 2022.

Out of this the eight teams from the CWC Super League, consisting of 13 teams will earn direct qualification while the bottom five will play a CWC qualifier, involving five more teams.

The newly designed structure will see more ODI games for seven Associate Members. ICC's CEO Dave Richardson feels that this move will cater to the earlier demands.

"To date the World Cricket League has played an important role in improving standards in Associate Member cricket, but feedback from our consultation with Members clearly articulated the need for more frequent playing opportunities and greater certainty over when they would be playing,’’ said ICC CEO Dave Richardson after the decisions were taken in the ICC Board and Committee meetings in Singapore on Saturday .

"The new structure significantly increases the number of matches and competitive playing opportunities for our Members as well as shortening the whole qualification process to two and a half years, when previously it was six. There is a clear pathway now for teams looking to qualify for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup," he said.

The ICC has come under criticism previously for restricting the 2019 World Cup to a ten-team affair. Associate Members felt significantly dismayed by the decision to restrict and not expand the World Cup playing teams.

The new structure allows even the bottom-ranked team (out of 32) a chance to become one of the two teams to play in the World Cup while also making sure that there is a substantial increase in ODI and List A cricket played by the lower-ranked teams through the newly-designed pathway.