What’s the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League all about?

Well apparently we’ve all been complaining too much about meaningless bilateral cricket (by we I mean the Australians who flew all the way to England in 2018 just to get whacked 5-0, ruining the Amazon documentary they were putting together) so the ICC have given us a new system that means ODIs will count towards World Cup qualification.

Who’s involved?

It will be the 12 full member teams plus the Netherlands, who won the ICC World Cricket League Championship back in 2017 and will almost definitely find a way of knocking out England.

How does it work?

Each side will play eight ODI series, each three matches long, four at home and four away. There will be 10 points for a win, five for a draw/tie/no result, and none for a loss, and points will be deducted for slow over-rates.

What does it mean?

Nothing really, its only cricket and death comes to us all.

Ugh. What does the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League mean for the World Cup?

Better question. India qualify automatically as hosts, but the other teams need to make the top seven (or top eight if you can imagine minnows India finishing somewhere near the top) to guarantee a spot at the World Cup in 2023.

What happens to the teams who don’t make the top seven?

The five teams who don’t make it through will go into a 10-team qualifying tournament with the five associate teams that make it through a combination of Cricket World Cup League 2, the Cricket World Cup Challenge Leagues A and B, and the Cricket World Cup Play-Off. The top two teams in the qualifier will round out the 10 in the World Cup. Rather ominously, the ICC says “there are criteria in place to separate two or more teams on equal points” but doesn’t explain what they are.

I’m hoping for either a bowl off or a Hunger Games scenario, and I’m backing Rahkeem Cornwall either way.