The International Cricket Council (ICC) held its annual conference in Edinburgh on Monday, where discussions on major topics took place. Things have been growing and moving ahead for the last two years, making it probably the most crucial meeting in modern cricket. ICC executive Dave Richardson was seen in high spirits and in an optimistic mood. He even uttered the word ‘optimistic’ to describe how he felt about the meeting.
According to ESPNCricinfo, two new teams are very likely to be added to the main draw of the World T20 in the year 2018, taking the Super 10 to Super 12. Although a final number has not been decided, but if it stays at the proposed 12, then it is hardly something that is a surprise.
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One of the major talking points of the conference was to focus on the restructuring of the ‘Big Three’, which was introduced in 2014. Most of the power and the money in the game of cricket was concentrated in the hands of Australia, India and England.
Richardson said: "(There is) a mood to address what happened two years ago (the conference that ratified the Big Three)." He added: "We are a body that addresses 105 members."
According to sources, the discussions on the first day of the conference had appealed for direct democracy and also a proposal for all the 57 affiliates to be given the opportunity to attend and vote at future meets and conferences.
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Under the proposal, the board would continue with its current system of paying for the costs of five of the affiliate representatives whereas the rest of the 52 would have to incur their own expenses.
Discussions were also held over the importance to rethink the criteria associated with the affiliate membership which is very strict, to say the least. The criteria at present is believed to be hampering potential new members and discouraging them.
Ukraine have been stated to be a perfect example as despite having a cricket league, they cannot become an ICC member nation just because they could not fulfil certain criteria for the membership.
The conference was also talking about implementing sub-regional development offices for the ICC, as having an office in Eastern Europe can bridge the gap from let’s say Russia, which happens to be ICC member, to its European headquarters in London.
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