“There is consideration for moving towards two World T20s in a four-year cycle”
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) are once again weighing up the option of scrapping the Champions Trophy.
After the 2013 Champions Trophy, the tournament came extinct before it made its comeback this year.
However, since the ICC want to hold two expanded World Twenty20 tournaments every four years, they believe that the Champions Trophy will have to be sacrificed in order for that to happen.
“It’s always been quite difficult to distinguish or differentiate between the two 50-over global events,” ICC CEO David Richardson said. “With the World Cup becoming a ten-team event, it’s almost like the World Cup is becoming more like the Champions Trophy, which I think is a good thing.
“I think it (World Cup) will still be a longer event. The World Cup format will allow the best chance for the best four teams to get into the semifinals. So it takes away the risk of maybe a rain-affected game or one poor game having a huge impact on the tournament like it can be in this tournament (Champions Trophy). But still, highly competitive matches hopefully.
“And then, whether the Champions Trophy in 2021 stays a Champions Trophy, or we move to two World T20s – that still needs to be discussed and settled. It’s a possibility, yes. I wouldn’t say it is categorically going to happen because, as we’ve seen, the Champions Trophy on its own is a very good event and very well-supported, particularly in the UK, where you get support for all teams. So let’s not be too hasty in writing it off, but to be honest and frank, there is consideration for moving towards two World T20s in a four-year cycle.”
Richardson believes that having two World Twenty20 events in a four-year cycle will benefit Associate nations as it will give them the exposure they are desperate for.
“Having two World T20s in a four-year cycle gives us an opportunity to globalise the game to a great extent, open the tournament to more teams – 16 or maybe even in a longer term to 20 teams,” Richardson said. “It’s easier to be competitive in that format, and thus easier to accommodate more teams.”
Despite the ICC mulling over the future of the Champions Trophy, Richardson admitted that he was highly impressed with how successful tournament was this year.
“Overall, very satisfied with the Champions Trophy (2017),” he said. “Across all aspects of the event, really, from the enthusiasm of the volunteers – cricketeers, as they were called – to the broadcaster viewership, the digital content that we put out, umpiring, player behaviour, pitches … everything went well. The cricket has been great. It shows that if you’ve got context and competitive teams, you will have a great event.”