ICC throws WC lifeline to minnows

HONG KONG, June 27: World cricket´s governing body opened the door Monday for non-Test playing nations to compete in the next World Cup, reversing a bar that had outraged "minnows" including Ireland and Holland.



The International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement its chief executives´ committee had recommended a qualifying process for the 2015 tournament, without specifying how many teams it wanted to see taking part.[break]



The recommendation rows back on the ICC´s unpopular decision to limit the 2015 World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand, to the 10 full-member teams -- excluding countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Kenya.



"The CEC recommended that there should be a qualification process for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 but did not make a recommendation to the ICC executive board on the number of teams that should compete in the event to be held in Australia and New Zealand," the ICC said in a statement on its website following a two-day meeting at a glitzy hotel in downtown Hong Kong.



ICC president Sharad Pawar had asked his board to discuss the matter at the conference, with the governing body looking to avoid a repeat of the seven-week World Cup, deemed by some critics as unnecessarily lengthy.



Officials are believed to be in favour of retaining a 10-team limit but a qualifying tournament would give minor nations a chance of reaching the event.

Related story

RTI is the lifeline of democracy: Speaker