The era of ‘randomly scheduled’ bilaterals ‘has to come to an end,’ says ICC CEO

ICC Chief Executive Outlines Strategic Vision for International Cricket Calendar

The global cricket landscape stands at a critical crossroads as the International Cricket Council (ICC) re-evaluates the structure and purpose of bilateral series across all formats. Speaking on the future direction of international fixtures, ICC Chief Executive Officer Sanjog Gupta emphasized that the traditional, uncoordinated framework of international scheduling is no longer viable for member nations.

Gupta, who assumed the role of ICC CEO in July last year, explained that unscheduled or arbitrary fixtures strain financial and administrative resources without providing sufficient value to fans or administrators. According to Gupta, meaningful narrative structures and competitive stakes are essential to maintaining long-term audience engagement and financial sustainability.

“The era of randomly scheduled bilateral series has to come to an end, because countries will not be able to sustain cricket without context, culture, competition and competitiveness, which require significant investment of resources, both financial and non-financial,” Gupta stated.

The Four Core Levers for Sustaining the ODI Format

Despite ongoing debates surrounding the viability of One Day International (ODI) cricket in a rapidly expanding T20 ecosystem, the ICC leadership remains firm that the 50-over game retains a crucial place in the international portfolio. However, its long-term success depends heavily on purposeful scheduling and strategic clarity.

Gupta highlighted four fundamental pillars that must guide the evolution of the 50-over format:

• Context: Ensuring every bilateral series connects meaningfully to broader global tournaments or rankings.
• Culture: Respecting traditional cricket rivalries and local sporting heritage.
• Competition: Creating balanced fixtures that generate genuine intrigue and high-stakes drama.
• Competitiveness: Narrowing performance gaps across participating nations to elevate overall quality.

“It’s important to stay focused on the four levers which drive attention and affiliation – context, culture, competition and competitiveness – and ODIs can continue not just to survive, but thrive,” Gupta noted. He added that the format remains intrinsically tied to both men’s and women’s World Cups, necessitating careful evaluation of its expanse, participation, and target role within international cricket.

The Evolving Landscape of International Formats

The global debate regarding ODIs has intensified in recent years due to the proliferation of franchise-based T20 leagues worldwide and the successful introduction of the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2019. The WTC introduced explicit context to Test cricket, structuring red-ball matches into two-year cycles that culminate in a single final to crown a world champion.

While T20 leagues offer rapid growth and Test cricket maintains explicit structural context through the WTC, 50-over cricket recently celebrated a major milestone. Last week in Dundee, Scotland and Canada played the 5000th official ODI match in history, underscoring the deep historic roots of the format.

2027 World Cup Revamp and Associate Board Concerns

The next major pinnacle event for 50-over cricket will be the men’s 2027 ODI World Cup, scheduled for October and November 2027 across South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Following its annual conference in Edinburgh, the ICC announced structural revisions for the expanded 14-team tournament.

Under the newly revamped format, the tournament will incorporate a Super Series round prior to the main group stages, followed later by a new Super 7 stage before the semi-finals. However, the Super Series structure has generated significant pushback from Associate nations. Under this setup, the 12th, 13th, and 14th qualifying teams will compete in a tri-series from which only one nation advances to the main round of the World Cup.

This arrangement faced severe criticism from board leadership at Cricket Scotland and KNCB (the Netherlands Cricket Board), who argued that restricting entry pathways places excessive hurdles on developing cricket nations.

Future Tours Programme (FTP) and Media Rights Cycles

The 2027 World Cup will officially launch the next Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle covering 2027 through 2031. The FTP serves as the master governing schedule for all bilateral international series between ICC member boards.

The current men’s FTP cycle runs through April 2027. Finalization of the upcoming 2027–2031 FTP and its accompanying media rights strategy will take center stage at the upcoming ICC meetings in Hong Kong later this year.

cricketing Legends Weigh In on Bilateral Context

Concerns regarding bilateral cricket without clear context are not unique to ICC administrators. Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith voiced similar criticisms last year, pointing out that bilateral series often suffer from a lack of consistency and competitive narrative when played outside top-tier matchups.

Former South Africa international Jonty Rhodes also shared his perspective at a recent event in Mumbai, examining how fan bases and player workloads shape format priorities.

“When T20 first started, people were saying it’s going to put pressure on Test cricket; amazingly it hasn’t,” Rhodes stated. “Sure, some of the Test cricket looks like T20 at times, there’s some aggressive batting and bowling, but for me it was always understanding that 50-over cricket might be the one format that might be in trouble in the years ahead.”

Rhodes emphasized that while total volume of bilateral ODIs may decline, the 50-over format remains deeply rooted in cricket culture. “We’re really fortunate that what 50-overs cricket has is you’ve got really passionate fans who support their team no matter what format. At this stage, I think there will be fewer and fewer bilateral series where there’s a lot of 50-over cricket in the bilateral series. But it’s very difficult to think of cricket without the 50-over version.”