During its most recent board meeting in Dubai, the International Cricket Council (ICC) formally suggested extending the terms of its Chair and independent director. The existing two-year tenure would be extended to three years. Furthermore, future chairs would only be eligible for reelection once rather than the current eligibility for three consecutive terms. This implies that, as was previously the case, a person might serve as the ICC Chair for six years, but they would have to be elected twice rather than three times.
Jay Shah, who was elected unopposed as the new ICC Chairman, will take charge on December 1, 2024.
In a major boost for women’s cricket and in order to prepare for the expansion of ICC events in 2028-2031 cycle, the board also announced the introduction of two annual T20I tournaments for women’s Associate Member (AM) teams starting in 2025. The competitions would provide “structured cricket with context” to the 24 teams in order to qualify for the 16-team ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2030.
In a related development, the ICC outlined the mechanism for awarding ODI status to women’s Associate teams for the 2025-2029 cycle. A maximum of two Associate teams will earn ODI status by qualifying for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in 2025, with the remaining three slots determined by ICC T20I rankings during the annual update.
Additionally, the ICC confirmed that the Women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2025-2029 will be published in the coming days. Other updates include shifting the annual update for women’s team rankings from October 1 to May 1 each year. To reflect the growing volume of international women’s cricket and maintain ranking eligibility, teams must now play at least eight matches, up from six.
On the governance front, the ICC also announced key appointments. Scott Weenink and Scott Edwards will join the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee as Full Members and Associate members, respectively. Meanwhile, Dr John Maclean will take over from Dr Roger Hawkes on the Medical Advisory Committee following the latter’s retirement.
