Archive · 10 Aug 2026

Netherlands, Scotland slam ICC over ODI World Cup format changes

Netherlands, Scotland slam ICC over ODI World Cup format changes

There is a sport called cricket, and the best countries in the world play a big tournament called the World Cup.

The International Cricket Council, or ICC, is the group that runs cricket around the world.

The ICC decided to change the way the next World Cup will work, and it made this change only 15 months before the tournament begins.

Some smaller cricket countries, called associate nations, were not happy about this.

Two of those countries are Scotland and the Netherlands.

They said the new format gives them less chance to play and compete.

The leaders of these countries asked the ICC to explain the changes and to write them down clearly.

They met with the ICC twice, but after more than two weeks they still had not heard back.

So Scotland and the Netherlands made an official statement saying the way they were treated was disappointing and disrespectful.

They also said the changes could hurt the growth of cricket around the world.

Sources