Before being awarded full membership by the ICC, Cricket Ireland were raising their voice and opinion for having more associate countries get chance to participate in Cricket World Cups.
And the mood hasn’t changed a bit since them becoming a Test country and their CEO, Warren Deutrom was quoted in the thetimes.co.uk, “We have only had one board meeting since we became a full member, so the subject of the World Cup hasn’t come up yet. But we want our colleagues in the associate world to know that we still think a 10-team World Cup is wrong, and that view hasn’t changed just because we have been awarded full member status.”
Cricket Ireland is understood to be ready to discuss with ICC to re-consider their approach in the next Board Meeting in Mar 2018, most likely to be held in Dubai.
The ICC opted to retain the 14-team format for the 2015 tournament in Australia and New Zealand after intense lobbying from the second-tier nations, but since has reverted back to their original 10-team plan for the 2019 and 2023 editions.
A 14-team tournament will provide more spots for Associate countries for grabs in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers than the only 2, which is available in the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Mar 2018 in Zimbabwe.
