ICC MEETING

Bangladesh will remain U-19 World T20 hosts: ICC

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

Australia had recently postponed their tour of Bangladesh, citing security concerns. © Cricbuzz

Despite recent security concerns that saw Australia postpone their travel to Bangladesh, the International Cricket Council (ICC), on Tuesday, confirmed that Bangladesh will remain the hosts of the upcoming Under-19 World Cup early next year. Following their Board and Committee meetings in Dubai, an official statement spoke of 'developing an appropriate security plan'.

"As part of this decision, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), working in conjunction with its government, will be developing an appropriate security plan that addresses all security risks to the satisfaction of the ICCs security advisor, working closely with the security advisors for the other Members," the statement said.

The official statement also mentions some of the other prominent outcomes of Tuesday's meetings. With respect to the Associate and Affiliate nations, the ICC has significantly bumped up the direct funding, in a bid to assist the development of more competitive teams.

"In line with the ICCs new strategy which aims to assist the development of more competitive teams in international cricket, the Board approved that direct funding available to the Associate and Affiliate Members (AMs) will increase from $125million in the previous cycle to $208million for the period from 2016-2023."

The ICC has also improved the prize money on offer for top-ranked Test sides and for ICC events - both men's and women's - for the period 2016-2023. The increased allocation is US$65 million, which represents 41 per cent increase in the total money paid to players compared to the previous eight-year cycle.

"The Board has also doubled the prize money for sides that top the ICC Test Championship table each year at the 1 April cut-off date. As a result, the number-one ranked Test team on 1 April 2016 will receive $1 million, up from $500,000 in 2015," the release stated.

This prize money is in addition to the Test Cricket Fund of $70 million, which the ICC Board introduced last year to help ensure Test playing sides are able to sustain a home programme of Test cricket through to 2023. The fund will be available from next year to all Test Members except the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board. In an effort to improve Women's cricket, the ICC has also tweaked the format of the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, to be hosted in England.

"The eight-team tournament will now be played as a round-robin format with the top four sides progressing to the semi-finals, followed by the final. The change in the format means there will now be a total of 31 matches (compared to 25 matches in 2013), with each side guaranteed a minimum of seven matches during the tournament."

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