MCC calls for Olympics cricket and 12-team World Cup

The MCC World Cricket Committee have called the reorganisation of the World Cup to a 10 team event "a retrograde step" and called for cricket to become an Olympic sport.

Calling for a rethink of the ICC's decision to cut the number of participants in future World Cups from 14 to 10, the committee criticised the move as "a handbrake for the development of the sport."

Instead, they have recommended a 12-team tournament preceded by a "preliminary qualification round" for the "lower ranked Full Member teams and the top Associate Nations."

Concerned that the sport is in danger of contracting around the world, the WCM urged "all governing bodies around the world to get behind a bid" to make cricket an Olympic sport. This, the committee believes, would "expose the game positively to new markets" and enable many developing cricket nations to benefit from the government funding that is linked to Olympic involvement.