ICC forms three-member committee to review conduct of T20 World Cup

PTI, Jul 22, 2024, 7:20 PM IST

PC: PTI

Colombo: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday formed a three-member committee to “review the delivery” of the T20 World Cup which was co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies last month.

The committee features former New Zealand batter Roger Twose and two other directors Lawson Naidoo and Imran Khwaja, who is the deputy chair of the ICC.

“The ICC Board confirmed that there will be a review into the delivery of the ICC T20 World Cup. This will be overseen by three directors, Roger Twose, Lawson Naidoo and Imran Khwaja who will report back to the Board later in the year,” an ICC release stated.

It is understood that ICC incurred losses in excess of USD 20 million for conducting matches in New York, Florida and Dallas.

It is learnt that the allocated budget for the US leg of the tournament was around $150 million and it was found that the budget had overshot by a fair distance which was red-flagged by certain influential board members of the global body.

Poor quality of drop-in pitches, ticketing system and the logistical issues added to the ICC’s woes. A close look at how various tenders were handed out also raised concerns.

It is understood that the role of some top ICC executives will also be thoroughly looked into by the committee.

Already, head of events Chris Tetley has tendered his resignation although the official reason given was that an ICC flagship event every year (men and women) was taking its toll.

USA, Chile put on notice and given 1 year for compliance

The governing body for cricket in the United States, popularly known as USAC, has been formally put on notice and given 12 months to comply with ICC’s Associate Membership criteria.

As per ICC’s Associate Membership Criteria, USAC has fault on two counts 2.2 b (i) governance 2.2b (ii) administrative and executive structure.

It is learnt that USAC has not complied with the norms of the USA Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), which is mandatory to get recognition as National Governing Body (NGB) to be a part of Los Angeles Games in 2028 where cricket is one of the medal events.

In case, USAC, in its current form, fails to comply with USOPC guidelines, the LA Games organisers would be forced to de-recognise the former and form a new NGB.

The second reason is believed to be non-appointment of CEO, which is a must for any cricket board.

“USA Cricket and Cricket Chile have been formally put on notice and have 12 months to rectify their current non-compliance with the ICC Membership Criteria,” the release stated.

“Neither Member is considered to have in place a fit for purpose detailed governance and administrative structure and systems.”

“The Board agreed that a Normalisation Committee comprising of Board and Management representatives will be set up to oversee and monitor USA Cricket’s compliance roadmap and the ICC Board will reserve its right to suspend or expel the Member for continued non-compliance.”

Cricketing Decisions

The Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) confirmed the allocation of the eight regional qualifying spots for the 2026 T20 World Cup. This would see two teams qualify from Africa and Europe, one from the Americas and three from a combined Asia and EAP regional final.

The ICC, with its long-term strategic commitment to equity across the men’s and women’s game, also confirmed the expansion of the women’s T20 World Cup in 2030 from 12 to 16 teams.

The cut-off date for qualification for the 2026 women’s T20 World Cup qualifier was confirmed as October 31, 2024.

The CEC approved the appointment of Paul Reiffel to the Cricket Committee as the Elite Panel representative.