CA chairman pushes ODI revamp

In his final year as the Cricket Australia chairman and an ICC powerbroker, Wally Edwards is intent on making further changes to ODI cricket as he watches the World Cup contested according to playing conditions he had a major hand in bringing about.

Edwards has believed for some time that the 50-over game should be re-branded as "World Cup cricket", with a more vigorous points and rankings system linked to Cup qualification across the four-year cycle that culminates in the global tournament. Such a system would create the context many have yearned for in ODIs for decades.

Edwards' concept for World Cup cricket will be discussed in detail at an ICC subcommittee meeting in Melbourne next week. Edwards serves presently as chairman of the influential Executive Committee or ExCo, a key plank added to the ICC's governance under the raft of "big three changes" pushed into place by India, Australia and England at the governing body's annual conference in June 2014.