The four-day ICC annual conference ended in Colombo on Monday. The big news is that ICC will expand Women’s T20 World Cup to 16-team competition in 2030. But after hosting the Men’s T20 WC, USA Cricket has received a notice of suspension.
However, all eyes were on the ICC conference regarding Champions Trophy 2025. With BCCI unlikely to send a team, Pakistan and India cricket boards were expected to meet and sort out their differences. But even though BCCI remains adamant on playing in neutral venue, the two boards did not meet officially in Colombo.
ICC Meeting Highlights
Women’s T20 WC 2030 expansion:
Part of ICC’s expansion plans, Women’s T20 World Cup gets a boost. From current 10-team competition, WT20WC will have 16 teams in 2030. The 2026 edition will be a 12-team affair.
USA Cricket put on notice
In an expected turn of events, the ICC has sent a notice of suspension to USA Cricket, which was the co-host of T20 World Cup 2024 alongside West Indies. The ICC has given USAC 12 months to course-correct and comply. A failure will lead to suspension.
T20 World Cup budget overshoot to be probed
The international cricket body has also appointed a three-person committee to probe the budget overshoot in Men’s T20 World Cup. The mishap led to resignations from two high-ranking ICC officials including Claire Furlong, who was the Marketing & Communications head.
The review committee consists of South Africa’s Lawson Naidoo, Imran Khawaja from Singapore, and New Zealand’s Roger Twose.
Budget approved for ICC Champions Trophy
Even though it remains unclear whether India Cricket Team will visit Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy next year, the budget for the tournament has been approved.
ICC has approved around Rs 385 Crore for renovations of three stadiums in Pakistan — Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Lahore — for the competition.
No BCCI-PCB Meet
However, the highly-anticipated BCCI-PCB meet did not happen on the sidelines of ICC Meeting in Colombo. With Mohsin Naqvi and Jay Shah attending the meeting, the two were expected to meet in an unofficial capacity to discuss Champions Trophy 2025.
BCCI has maintained its stance that India Cricket Team will not travel to the nordering nation without India government’s approval.