ICC increases participating teams for World Twenty20

Dubai, April 16 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to expand the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh from 12 teams to 16 to boost the associate members.

The associate members were unhappy after the ICC refused to increase the number of teams for this year's World Twenty20 (T20I) in Sri Lanka despite their good performance in the 2011 World Cup.

The ICC during its executive board meeting here Sunday received a report of the strategic discussions held at the Chief Executive's Committee (CEC) in March 2012 and confirmed that from 2014 onwards, the number of teams participating in the World Twenty20 will be increased from 12 to 16. The event should remain a joint men's and women's event.

The board also said that three additional Twenty20 Internationals may be played in the year in which the ICC World Twenty20 is being staged provided there is a corresponding reduction in the maximum number of permitted ODIs. As per ICC Scheduling guidelines, the current regulations permit a maximum of 12 T20Is for each full member in any one year.

'The need to manage volume of cricket was considered when agreeing to allow the additional T20Is to be played in a year,' ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement Monday.

The board also confirmed the hosting for the ICC World Twenty20 2014 qualifying tournament in the United Arab Emirates in October 2013 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 qualifying event in New Zealand in 2014.

The ICC has already commenced with planning for its new rights cycle post 2015 and a key prerequisite of this is to determine the ICC events that will be staged.