Reports: ICC Member Boards to meet in Birmingham on July 25 & 26

The member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will be meeting ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this month to discuss several issues related to world cricket.

According to media reports, the meeting between the member nations is scheduled for July 25 and 26.

Among the many things on the agenda, the primary point of discussion is likely to be the appointment of a new ICC chairman as the stint of the incumbent Greg Barclay is set to end later this year.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as usual, is all set to have a considerable say in the appointment. Previously, Shashank Manohar, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar have headed the ICC, and current BCCI secretary Jay Shah and president Sourav Ganguly have shown interest in the same in the past.

Apart from this, the BCCI will also likely pitch for a longer window for the Indian Premier League. 

Recently, Jay Shah confirmed that the cash-rich competition will have a 2.5-month window from the next Future-Tour Program cycle (2024-31).

"From the next FTP cycle, IPL will have an official two-and-a-half-month window so that all the top international cricketers can participate. We have had discussions with various boards as well as the ICC,” Jay Shah had told PTI.

This year, the IPL expanded to 10 teams, and 74 games were played. This is likely to be increased to 84 and 94 in the last two years of the new five-year broadcast cycle.

Apart from this, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will likely float the idea of staging tri-nation tournaments involving countries like England and Australia.

Earlier, the PCB had come up with the idea of playing an annual quadrangular series with arch-rivals India and two other opponents, but the ICC shot the idea down as the governing body prohibits member boards from conducting four-nation tournaments.