|| CF DESK ||

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has suggested limiting the number of one-day internationals after the 2027 World Cup to improve quality and create space in the calendar, as well as establishing a fund to help smaller nations play Test cricket.

The custodian of the game's laws also called for more funds to be directed to women's cricket, saying "significant transformation" was needed to protect the sport overall.

"The suggestion is that a scarcity of ODI cricket would increase the quality, achieved by removing bilateral ODIs, other than in the one-year preceding each World Cup," the MCC said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This would, as a consequence, also create much-needed space in the global cricketing calendar."

The recommendations could only be implemented following cricket's 2023–2027 cycle.

The MCC's World Cricket Committee (WCC) panel expressed "particular concern" for the sustainability of Test cricket outside of India, Australia, and England while welcoming additional money into the game and pointing out the financial discrepancy among members.

The committee, which met at Lord's during the second Ashes test, agreed that "many nations are finding it increasingly difficult to afford to host men's test match cricket" and suggested a financial audit.

"This audit of operational costs versus commercial return would help the ICC identify nations in need of support in order to sustain a test match programme," it said.

"This need could be subsequently addressed via a separate test fund, established to protect the sanctity of test match cricket."

It also recommended a strategic fund to aid growth of women's cricket. "It's time for the global game to reset," panel chairman Mike Gatting said.

"The WCC firmly believes that if we are to protect the game of cricket as a whole, immediate action must be taken to bring about significant transformation in the sport," added the former England captain.