CWC Super League, the new qualification system for 2023 Cricket World Cup

The 13th edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) will be held in India in 2023. Like the previous editions, the upcoming tournament will feature 10 teams. However, the qualification process for the quadrennial event has been tweaked by the sport’s governing body.

A total of 10 teams featured in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, with England (the host nation) and the top seven other teams in the rankings earning automatic qualification for the tournament. The remaining two spots were later decided through the 2018 World Cup qualifiers which featured as many as 10 teams.

However, ICC has rolled out a new qualification process called the CWC Super League for the next Cricket World Cup.

What is the CWC Super League?

The CWC Super League is a new One-Day International (ODI) competition by the ICC that will help determine which nations will compete in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, which will be held in India.

The league, consisting of 13 teams, will be played across two years. The competition was initially scheduled to begin on May 1, 2020, and finish on March 31, 2022, but the surge in COVID-19 cases forced the ICC to push back its dates.

The Ireland tour of England in July 2020 marked the beginning of the ICC Men's CWC Super League. 

Like the previous edition, the host nation (India) has already qualified for the tournament and the top seven teams in the standing will make up the eight teams. The bottom five teams will then play a qualifying tournament alongside those in the CWC League 2 and CWC Challenge League, featuring associate nations, to determine the final two spots.

Which countries are part of the CWC Super League?

Apart from the 12 Full Member nations, the Netherlands are also a part of the CWC Super League. They were included after winning the ICC World Cricket League Championship back in 2017. Here is the complete list of the teams:

• Afghanistan
• Australia
• Bangladesh
• England
• India
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Pakistan
• South African
• Sri Lanka
• West Indies
• Zimbabwe

What is the format of CWC Super League?

Each team will play a total of 24 ODIs and is bifurcated to play eight of the other 12 teams on the road. The ODI series will consist of three matches, and the teams are allowed to play four series at home and as many away from home.

Note that not all ODI matches will be a part of the CWC Super League. For example, if a bilateral series between the two teams has five games, the first three matches will account for the Super League points. The others will affect the general  ICC rankings (teams, batters, bowlers).

India in CWC Super League

So far, India has played 21 ODIs in CWC Super League, winning 13 and losing six. Two matches ended in no result. The Rahul Dravid-coached side has accumulated 139 points with a Net Run Rate of +0.782.

CWC Super League points distributions

Ten points are awarded for every win in the CWC Super League, while in case of an abandoned match or no result, five points will be awarded to both teams. There will be no points for a lost match.

There are special conditions as well for distribution of points. If the match is abandoned and the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process declare the pitch unfit, the points will be awarded to the visiting team. 

Also, a tied match will be decided by a Super Over and by the end of any match, if a team lags behind the required over-rate, a point will be deducted from their tally for each over they were behind.

CWC points table

(Q) - Qualified teams

Featured photo: AFP / Paul Ellis