ICC postpones World Club Championship plans after objections from England, Australia and India
The International Cricket Council will not introduce a World Club Championship or additional international multilateral tournaments until 2031 at the earliest after resistance from England, Australia and India. That outcome followed a cricket operations workshop in Dubai last week that concluded without any new events being proposed.
The next Future Tours Programme (FTP) covering 2027 to 2031 is expected to mirror the current cycle, with no extra tournaments added. One potential alteration under consideration is expanding the World Test Championship to 12 teams from next year by adding Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, although the ICC has not issued finalised plans to members. The council has signalled a desire to develop new competitions to grow the sport and its revenues, a push that creates tension with England, Australia and India, and India alone generate around 70% of cricket’s global revenue.
Among concepts the ICC floated were a World Club Championship and a series of four-team T20 competitions for international sides to occupy additional windows in the calendar. The organisation has also explored quadrangular tournaments after triangular formats fell out of favour. England will travel to Pakistan for a series that also features Sri Lanka later this month, an example cited in discussions about multilateral scheduling.
England, Australia and India have told the ICC there is no room in the international calendar for further events unless the council removes existing competitions such as World Cups and the Champions Trophy, an option that has not been discussed. One source involved in the talks said there is no appetite among the Big Three for additional multilateral events, while smaller nations expressed interest. Another described the concepts as an "ICC landgrab."
Many of the proposed new competitions derive from a strategic review conducted by McKinsey & Company; the consultancy’s full report will be presented to ICC members at the next quarterly meeting in Bali next month. That review was commissioned amid concern inside the ICC that the value of media rights will fall significantly from next year and because the Indian rights deal is viewed as unsustainable, prompting proposals to schedule extra events.
Disney Star paid $3.1bn [£2.34bn] for the ICC’s Indian rights between 2024 and 2027 but has since merged with Viacom 18 to create JioStar, removing competition for that package. The ICC sells its broadcast rights regionally to 11 territories and the Indian contract contributes the vast majority of its $3.5bn [£2.64bn] global broadcast revenues, a shortfall the council says cannot be replaced from elsewhere.
While the FTP will not be finalised until next month’s meeting in Bali, England, Australia and India have already agreed schedules involving each other through 2031. Those commitments include the Ashes in England next summer as the first series of the next World Test Championship, a tour of Australia in 2029-30, and England travelling to India for a five-Test series in early 2028 before hosting India in 2029. The FTP operates on a slightly different cycle to the ICC’s TV rights sales, whose next auction covers 2028 to 2032 and will feature two T20 World Cups, the 2029 Champions Trophy and the 2031 50-over World Cup.
The McKinsey report and the final FTP will be considered at the Bali meeting next month, and the ICC declined to comment. With no new multilateral events to be added before 2031 at the earliest, existing bilateral commitments among the Big Three will remain the primary framework for international scheduling.
