Afghanistan will be one Associate team to benefit should the ODI league go ahead

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have plans to establish a new ODI league that will see the world’s top 13 teams battle each other to be crowned champion over a three-year period.

The ICC hope to put their plans into action by 2019 and it is understood that the 10 Test teams, along with Afghanistan, Ireland and another Associate nation, most likely Nepal, will participate in the event.

At the end of the tournament, the top two nations will face each other and a winner will subsequently be declared.

Should the plan be given the green light, each team would play every other country either at home or abroad in a series consisting of three ODIs. This will amount to 36 ODIs over the three-year period and the idea behind the tournament is to give ODI cricket more meaning as there are concerns that the format is nowhere near as popular as it used to be.

Furthermore, the event would be used as a direct means of qualification and seedings for the World Cup. In addition to all this, it is understood that the team at the foot of the standings could be relegated to the World Cricket League Championship following a playoff against the winners of the World Cricket League Championship.