ICC's T20 World Cup expansion: USA Cricket says decision will give more chances to Associates

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Bengaluru, June 7: The International Cricket Council (ICC) had recently decided to expand the T20 World Cup to 20 teams from the 2024 edition, opening the door to more associate nations while the 50-over World Cup will be a 14-team affair from 2027.

Iain Higgins, the Chief Executive of USA Cricket, hailed the ICC decision and said the move will help associate nations to express themselves more at global stage.

"Everybody within USA Cricket and across the US cricket community is delighted that the ICC has chosen to expand the number of participating teams in both the Men's Cricket World Cup and Men's T20 World Cup, following similar decisions in respect of the women's game.

"These decisions help to provide additional opportunities for the best Associate Members to compete on a global stage on a more regular basis, and they therefore provide extra incentive to the USA's national teams and players as we strive to develop an integrated domestic structure and environment that helps to drive high performance outcomes. The standard and quality of Associate Member cricket has never been stronger and we look forward to being able to demonstrate that on the global stage through these new opportunities," said Higgins.

"In addition, the decision to schedule a Men's T20 World Cup every other year, which follows a similar decision in respect of the Women's T20 World Cup, also provides USA Cricket with additional opportunities to continue to seek the right to host part of these major events in line with the strategic objectives set out in our Foundational Plan.

"To that end, USA Cricket has already formally expressed to the ICC its interest in staging various major events in partnership with Cricket West Indies, and we look forward to working with CWI and the ICC over the next few months with a view to putting forward the best possible case to secure for the USA the hosting rights to some of the most exciting global cricket competitions, which would be extremely exciting and help us to achieve our long-term vision of making cricket a mainstream sport in the USA."