Cricket’s showpiece 50-over event is shrinking and it hasn’t gone down well with one of the most decorated captains of the game.
Steve Waugh, who lifted the ODI World Cup trophy for Australia in 1999, has publicly criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC) over its latest decision to cut down the number of teams competing in the 2027 World Cup.
The tournament, set to be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year, was originally planned as a 14-team event. That plan has now been scrapped in favour of a smaller 12-team format.
Under the revised structure, the teams that finish 12th, 13th and 14th in the rankings won’t get a direct spot in the main draw. Instead, they’ll play a qualifying round among themselves and only one of the three will earn the final spot to join the other 11 teams. Once the lineup of 12 is set, the sides will be split into two groups of six for the group stage.
Speaking in an interview, Steve Waugh did not hold back on his views, saying he felt the move was a step in the wrong direction and that he couldn’t see the logic behind reducing the number of participating nations. He pointed out that the trend in world sport is actually the opposite — football’s FIFA World Cup, for instance, expanded from 32 teams to 48 for its most recent edition and questioned why cricket was going against that grain. According to him, growing the game globally means being more welcoming to newer teams, not less, and that competing against stronger opposition more often is exactly what helps emerging teams improve.
Steve Waugh is not the only one unhappy with the ICC’s call. The decision had already sparked strong backlash from two European cricket boards — Scotland and the Netherlands, well before his comments.
In a joint statement issued in August, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association expressed their frustration with the timing and substance of the changes, noting that they were being introduced with less than 18 months to go before the tournament. They argued that the restructuring works against the interests of Associate Member nations and threatens to reverse the progress the sport has made in recent years toward becoming more global.
The two boards also pointed out what they saw as a contradiction: at a time when cricket is actively trying to widen its audience and boost its global standing, cutting down opportunities for smaller cricketing nations sends a message that runs completely counter to that goal.
Steve Waugh certainly made a good point, what do you say?
