NEWS
Follow UsThe ICC has decided to move the Under-19 World Cup to South Africa from Sri Lanka, a source confirmed to Cricket.com. The event was initially set to be held in Sri Lanka, but since Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been suspended, there was a cloud of uncertainty about whether the tournament would be played in the country.
The decision was taken in an ICC meeting in Ahmedabad, where it was also decided to uphold the decision that was taken to suspend SLC and will not be overturned.
"It was a unanimous decision by the board that the suspension cannot be lifted. Cricket in the country will continue as normal," sources told Cricbuzz.
According to the same portal, Shammi Silva, who was removed as the president of SLC recently, had also attended the ICC meeting held in Ahmedabad.
The decision to suspend SLC comes following the government's interference in its affairs. Sri Lanka's Ministry of Sport dismissed SLC's board and replaced them with an interim committee following the team's poor show in the World Cup, which saw them win just two of their nine games.
"After hearing representation from SLC, the ICC Board decided that Sri Lanka can continue to compete internationally both in bilateral cricket and ICC events after being suspended recently for breaching its obligations as a Member, in particular the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and without government interference. However, funding to SLC will be controlled by the ICC," the ICC said in a statement.
The Under-19 World Cup is scheduled to take place between January 14 and February 15, 2024. It will clash with the second edition of SA20, but the CSA is confident of pulling it off.
One of the key points discussed at the ICC meeting is that Chief Executives’ Committed (CEC) has also proposed to introduce a stopwatch on a trial basis in white-ball cricket between December 2023 to 2024. A five-run penalty will be imposed at the discretion of the third umpire on the team that takes more than 60 seconds to begin an over the third time it happens in an innings.
Also, a venue could lose its international status for accumulating demerit points.
"Changes to the pitch and outfield monitoring regulations were also approved, including a simplification of the criteria against which a pitch is assessed and increasing the threshold for when a venue could have its international status removed from five demerit points to six demerit points over a five-year period," the release from ICC further stated.
Furthermore, the ICC has also barred transgenders to take part in their "new gender eligibility regulation."
According to the ICC, “Male-to-female participants who have undergone male puberty will not be eligible to compete in the international women’s game."
