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SLC’s suspension, future of ODI cricket among key talking points at ICC board meeting
Sri Lanka Cricket’s suspension, the future of ODI cricket and a revival of a high-performance programme aimed at the top Associates and some Full Members are all set to be on the agenda at the upcoming ICC board meeting in Ahmedabad.
The quarterly meetings, the last of the year, begin on Saturday with various committees before the ICC board meeting set for Tuesday, two days after the 2023 ODI World Cup final. While some of the big-ticket items have been effectively finalised, such as the revenue distribution model for the 2024-27 cycle of events and cricket’s entry into the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Sri Lanka Cricket’s board suspension
SLC’s suspension last week is set to dominate the ICC board meeting. Possible conditions over the suspension will be debated as well as whether Sri Lanka continue to remain hosts of the men’s under-19 World Cup in January and February.
The ICC’s deputy chair Imran Khwaja is likely to be an influential voice having been engaged to look into potential political interference for a while. He investigated the matter in May during a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka.
The future of ODI cricket
Two days after the ODI World Cup final, possible discussions around the future of the 50-overs format are on the cards. There will be at least two boards pushing for the revival of the recently-scrapped 13-team ODI Super League. With a new qualification pathway already approved for a 14-team 2027 men’s ODI World Cup, the Super League, if it does return, could only do so from 2028.
Zimbabwe – co-hosts of the 2027 ODI World Cup along with South Africa and Namibia – are advocating for an analysis to be conducted over the current World Cup to gauge its global popularity.
“This World Cup came at the same time as the rugby World Cup, so it would be a good opportunity to compare the audience and measure our global impact as a sport,” Zimbabwe Cricket chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani said.
“It felt like the Rugby World Cup was more popular, especially in countries where both sports are popular. I don’t think the problem is with the ODI format… there aren’t enough teams in the World Cup, even 14 isn’t enough. And there won’t be context without the Super League.
“We need ODI cricket, we can’t afford to not have it. It is still a money-maker for us and many countries.”
High-performance programme revival
The ICC’s high-performance programme is set for a revival, having been scrapped late last decade, after running for 15 years. The programme was aimed at top Associate nations and included player development pathways and specialised administrative structures to help professionalise those deemed close to Full Member status.
The new programme, in a point of difference, will involve Full Members Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and possibly others. It has been resurrected as the ICC look to establish development programmes through funds from its next four-year commercial cycle. Funding from the programme is hoped to encourage more fixtures between these countries, including A tours and women’s cricket matches.
An as yet unspecified amount has been mooted, taken from the ICC’s overall revenues, to be divided among these boards. But specific details, including the countries involved and total funding allocated, will be revealed at the meeting.
Funding from revenue distribution model set aside to create reserves
Some of the funds allocated to members in the new distribution model will be diverted into a retained surplus fund totalling US$100 million a year, which will be invested and distributed back to members at a later time.
The interest accrued will be distributed according to the contribution by the member in what is seen as a prudent financial measure with uncertainty over what type of media rights deal will be struck for the cycle of 2028-31. Full Members will contribute US$ 88.8 million to this fund – of which the BCCI will put US$ 38.5 million – annually and the Associates US$11.2 million.
But not everyone is satisfied with the arrangement. With plans to build a cricket stadium in Dublin, Ireland want to receive its full US$18 million a year allocation. Around US$3 million a year of their funding is earmarked for the surplus fund and so too Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
“We need funding to do that [build infrastructure],” Cricket Ireland high-performance director Richard Holdsworth said. “To withhold what it looks like to be about US$12 million over four years maybe that’s for the members to make the right decisions as to whether they stick money into reserves or spend it all now.
“For us, we’ve got a lot of things to invest in and we need to do that now. We can’t wait four years.”
Cricket at the Olympics
After returning to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games recently, T20 cricket was last month officially confirmed as an Olympic sport for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The board will formalise cricket’s inclusion and there is expected to be discussion over possible qualification pathways.
Some boards hope that more than six teams per gender can be included in subsequent Olympics after Los Angeles.
Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) MURASAME which arrived in Sri Lanka on 22 March 2025 for replenishment, departed the island on Tuesday (25 Mar).
The Sri Lanka Navy bade customary farewell to the departing ship at the Port of Colombo, following naval traditions.
During the stay in Sri Lanka, crew members of JMSDF MURASAME visited some popular tourist destinations within the Colombo city.
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea in separate deals with the US, after three days of peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
Washington said all parties would continue working toward a “durable and lasting peace” in statements announcing the agreements, which would reopen an important trade route.
They have also committed to “develop measures” to implement a previously agreed ban on attacking each other’s energy infrastructure, the White House said.
But Russia said the naval ceasefire would only come into force after a number of sanctions against its food and fertiliser trade were lifted.
US officials have been separately meeting negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv in Riyadh with the aim of brokering a truce between the two sides. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have not met directly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deal to halt strikes in the Black Sea was a step in the right direction.
“It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps,” he told a press conference in Kyiv.
“No-one can accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace after this,” he added, after US President Donald Trump had previously accused him of blocking a peace deal.
But shortly after Washington’s announcement, the Kremlin said the Black Sea ceasefire would not take effect until sanctions were lifted from Russian banks, producers and exporters involved in the international food and fertiliser trades.
The measures demanded by Russia include reconnecting the banks concerned to the SwiftPay payment system, lifting restrictions on servicing ships under the Russian flag involved in the food trade, and on the supply of agricultural machinery and other goods needed for the production of food.
It was unclear from the White House’s statement when the agreement is meant to come into force.
When asked about lifting the sanctions, Trump told reporters: “We’re thinking about all of them right now. We’re looking at them.”
Washington’s statement on the US-Russia talks does say the US will “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports”.
Speaking in Kyiv, Zelensky described this as a “weakening of positions”.
He also said Ukraine would push for further sanctions on Russia and more military support from the US if Moscow reneged on its commitments.
Later, in his nightly address to Ukrainians, Zelensky accused the Kremlin of lying when it said the Black Sea ceasefire depended on sanctions being lifted.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said “third countries” could oversee parts of the deal.
But he warned that the movement of Russian warships beyond the “eastern part of the Black Sea” would be treated as a violation of the agreement and a “threat to the national security of Ukraine”.
“In this case Ukraine will have full right to exercise right to self-defence,” he added.
A previous arrangement allowing safe passage of commercial ships in the Black Sea was agreed in 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.
Both Ukraine and Russia are major grain exporters, and prices rocketed after the start of the war.
The “Black Sea grain deal” was put in place to allow cargo ships travelling to and from Ukraine to safely navigate without being attacked by Russia. The deal facilitated the movement of grain, sunflower oil and other products required for food production, such as fertiliser, through the Black Sea.
It was initially in place for a period of 120 days but, after multiple extensions, Russia pulled out in July 2023, claiming key parts of the agreement had not been implemented.
[BBC]
New (or returning) players have hogged the limelight this first week of IPL 2025 and it was no different in Ahmedabad where last season’s title-winning captain announced himself in grand style. Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings’ batting line-up to their highest total of all time, and then victory over Gujarat Titans by 11 runs.
Iyer had a century for the taking. He was 97 off 42 when the final over began, but he did not face a single ball of it, having told his partner Shashank Singh not to worry about the landmark. He had said prior to the start of the season that he wanted to bat at No. 3 and he showed against GT the extent of damage he can do from there. His career-best IPL score included nine sixes. Only once in this tournament has he cleared the boundary more often, and to bat this way was a conscious decision.
JMSDF MURASAME departs island
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