The men’s Cricket World Cup will undergo yet another revamp when it takes place in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year. A convoluted 14-team format has been officially confirmed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), albeit one that trims the competing nations to 12 almost immediately.
While at the last two World Cups the 10 teams played a round-robin league stage that produced four semi-finalists, the expanded 2027 edition will begin with the three lowest-ranked teams out of the 14 qualifiers playing what has been called a “Super Series”. Only one of these teams will progress through to the main event.
From there two groups of six teams will take place, with the top three from each – plus the next highest-placed side across the groups – moving to a single “Super 7” phase that is all-plays-all and will decide the four semi-finalists. There will be 57 matches in total, starting on 4 October, and with the final slated for 21 November.
The ICC statement confirming the changes claimed they would give “greater context, competitiveness and consequence”, although the possibility of two India v Pakistan matches – the most lucrative fixture in terms of broadcast revenue – may be more relevant to the governing body’s thinking.
Even with the tournament expanded from 10 teams to 14, the move to cut two after just two games apiece will disappoint the emerging nations. The original plan was to start with two groups of seven, only for concerns about possible dead rubbers to prompt a rethink at the recent ICC annual conference.
Elsewhere, Ben Stokes is slated to play his first game for Durham since retiring from international cricket when their One-Day Cup campaign gets under way away to Derbyshire on Tuesday. It will be the all-rounder’s first taste of 50-over cricket since playing in the 2023 World Cup in India.
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A loss of appetite for the top level was behind Stokes calling time on his England career but he intends to continue in domestic cricket for the next 18 months at least. While not eligible to play in the Hundred this summer, having not entered the auction, he is expected to seek out opportunities on the franchise T20 circuit next winter.