Bengaluru, April 26: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (April 26) announced all its 104 member nations - both men and women's teams - will be granted T20I status.
ICC CEO David Richardson confirmed this in a press conference in Kolkata and also said a global ranking system will be launched for the format.
At present, there are 18 members with T20I status - 12 full members plus Scotland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, UAE, Oman and Nepal.
ICC announces that all T20I matches will get international status - https://t.co/HV8rEyPSmp #cricket @icc
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) April 26, 2018
"All Women's team matches will be awarded T20I status on July 1, 2018. All the men's team matches will be given T20I status on January 1, 2019," Richardson said.
"We are committed to growing the game and T20 is the vehicle through which we'll do this and removing restrictions and having all Members ranked is a positive step forward," he said.
Richardson also made some more important announcements and here' a closer look at them.
The future of Champions Trophy
In all likelihood, the 2017 Champions Trophy, won by Pakistan, will be the last edition of the tournament. In fact, there have been lot of doubts over the future of the event even before the 2017 tournament. "In all likelihood the 2021 Champions Trophy will be a World T20."
The 2021 Champions Trophy was scheduled to be held in India with the World T20 in Australia in the preceding year.
More stringent sanctions on ICC Code violations
In the wake of a controversy-marred Test series between South Africa and Australia, the ICC said they will clamp down heavily on issues like ball tampering and sledging.
"Stricter and heavier transactions for ball tampering and using abusive language, sledging, dissent. We want penalties in place. Fines are not proving to be the answer. The cricket committee will come back with plans," Richardson said.
The proliferation of T20 leagues
The ICC also discussed the impact of T20 leagues on international calendar. Speculations were rife that from 2020, there won't be any international cricket played during the IPL - making a separate window for the T20 league in India. Other than IPL, Australia host BBL, West Indies have CPL, Bangladesh have BPL and Pakistan too have their own PSL.
"There are occasions where they (T20 leagues) are competing with international bilateral series. We need to look at our regulations to see how we can allow that to happen," said Richardson.
India, Pakistan not featuring in first FTP
The ICC indicated that the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Paksitan will not happen in the foreseeable future.
"There is a common desire that it will be great if India and Pakistan can play each other, specifically in bilateral series. The issue is quite complicated I am afraid, it is going to take a lot more than just two boards agreeing," Richardson said.
Details of Future Tours Programme
ICC Members have signed off a new Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2019-2023 that incorporates the introduction of a World Test Championship and an additional ICC World T20 event in place of the Champions Trophy in 2021.
This provides opportunities for 16 teams to compete at a global level with a sub-regional, regional and global qualification process every two years, giving regular cricket to more Members.
The final structure of the FTP (2019-2023) includes the following:
ICC Cricket World Cup - 2019, 2023
ICC World T20 - 2020, 2021
ICC World Test Championship Final - 2021, 2023
World Test Championship
Cycle 1 - 2019-2021
Cycle 2 - 2021-2023
ICC Cricket World Cup Qualification League - 2020-2022
All bilateral Tests, ODIs and T20Is outside of the above competitions
Word from Shashank Manohar, ICC Chairman
"I would like to commend our Members on reaching agreement on the FTP which means the ICC World Test Championship and ODI league are now cemented into the calendar. Extending international status for all T20 bilateral games and creating a global rankings table is a positive step forward in growing cricket around the world using the shortest format of our game.
"The Code of Conduct review is a crucial piece of work and my fellow Board directors and I are committed to seeing an improvement in player behavior and ensuring a culture of respect across our sport. We will consider tougher sanctions as we work to create a culture of respect."