ICC CEO says ‘randomly scheduled bilateral series’ are unsustainable

Chief Executive Officer of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Sanjog Gupta, says the sport must provide a stronger backdrop for bilaterals in order to “sustain” the longer formats of the game. 

"The era of randomly scheduled bilateral series has to come to an end, because countries will not be able to sustain cricket without context, culture, competition, and competitiveness, which require significant investment of resources, both financial and non-financial," Gupta told the Press Trust of India.

"It's important to stay focused on the four levers which drive attention and affiliation - context, culture, competition and competitiveness - and ODIs can continue not just to survive, but thrive,” Gupta, who was appointed to the position of CEO last July, continued.

“There is a place for the format in the product portfolio, which is inextricably linked to men's and women's World Cups. We need to look at what we want the format to stand for and how we want it to evolve, including the expanse of participation."

The 2027 edition of the 14-team competition will now feature a Super Series, a group stage, a Super 7, semi-finals, and a final, the ICC announced last month. Teams qualifying 12th, 13th, and 14th will play in a tri-series (Super Series) from which one will advance to the group stage of the tournament to be hosted across South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

"The ICC talks a lot about growing the game globally, but decisions like this make it harder for Associate nations to play against the best teams in the world," Edwards said.

"Those opportunities are what help countries improve and inspire the next generation of players. If we're serious about making cricket a global sport, we should be creating more opportunities on the global stage, not less."

Associate Members, Cricket Scotland, and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) also released a joint statement criticizing the board for the changes, which they say "risk weakening the integrity and credibility of international cricket."

Still, Gupta points to the success of the World Test Championship, which was introduced in 2019, as an example of the kind of forward thinking needed to not only keep the longer formats afloat but also flourishing. 

“Our ambition has to be growth; our ambition should never be to maintain the status quo,” Gupta said. “Because in this world, where population is growing, attention is getting disaggregated and affiliation is hard to sustain, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”

“Our primary tool of global growth is T20 cricket, but that does not mean we don’t focus on growing the value or engagement around ODIs or Test cricket. The World Test Championship Final is now an event of significance and one that didn’t even exist seven years ago,” he added.

He acknowledged that the next step is figuring out how nations outside of the big three – India, England and Australia – can maximise the success of the WTC, thus optimising the potential of the format.

“Test matches in certain countries are of immense fan value, but can we focus more on providing Members with opportunities to build occasions of appointment and significance in Test cricket?

“That has to be by virtue of the World Test Championship having more meaning and a continuing narrative, by virtue of Test cricket being scheduled optimally, by virtue of Tests receiving adequate positioning and marketing support, by virtue of the competitive standards of the two teams and playing conditions being offered, and fans being promised cricket which is going to be compelling,” he said.