That leaves as many as four teams, who took part in the 2011 edition, out of the plans for the tournament to be staged in Australia and New Zealand.
The announcement was made by the Central Executives Committee (CEC) of the sport’s governing body that met in Mumbai and discussed the 2011 World Cup and outlined plans for the upcoming five year period that coincides with the 2015 tournament.
The CEC declared that the World Cup was a roaring success with matches between Australia and India and Australia and Pakistan, besides India’s games against England, and, the final against Sri Lanka smashing records for most watched cricket games in the history of televised cricket.
He added that based on the success of this year’s edition, the ICC wants to ensure the momentum is sustained for the event set to be held four years down the line and all efforts would be made to deliver another successful tournament.
The Chief Executive of the body, Haroon Lorgat, addressed a press conference where all the decisions made in the meeting were highlighted. He stated that the format for the event has not been finalized yet. He added that in due course the CEC would chalk out a schedule that is most suited to the game and will ensure that competitive games are held.
With the number reduced to 10 there is a good chance that the event would be staged on the round robin format meaning that each team would play the other once and the top four would make it to the semi-final round.
"We haven't quite started on designing the format", Lorgat said. "I seem to recall that in 1992 it was a 10-team event [nine, in fact], so there is a chance that we might replicate that. That is work that will commence perhaps not long from today [Monday]”.
Meanwhile, the leading associate member of the ICC, Ireland, is seething at the decision made by the ICC. The Chief of Irish cricket, Warren Deutrom, has stated that the decision is a black day for members like Ireland, who had progressed leaps and bounds in recent years and more than held their own in the 2011 World Cup.
"The conclusion can only be reached that the decisions made today were based purely on the protection of the existing membership entitlements for Full Members and the commercial imperative that a ten-team event delivers nine guaranteed matches for India and England", Deutrom told media.
He claimed that the decision defied common sense, especially considering the performance of the Irish team that defeated England, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the last two editions of the World Cup and were rarely outplayed in the competitions.
Warren was clearly perturbed by the announcement and added that the decision was nothing short of outrageous.
On the other hand, the ICC announced that as many as 16 teams would take part in next year’s T20 World Championship set to take place in Sri Lanka.
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