ICC cricket committee calls for WC qualifiers

LONDON, May 12 (AFP): Non-Test nations should be given the chance to qualify for the World Cup, the cricket committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) said here Wednesday. Under plans announced during an ICC summit in Mumbai last month, participation at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups is set to be restricted to just the 10 Full-Member or Test nations of the global governing body. That caused uproar in associate or non-Test countries such as Ireland, who beat England in Bangalore at this year's World Cup and nearly qualified for the quarter-finals. The 2011 World Cup, won by India, featured 14 teams and the decision to exclude non Test-playing nations such as Ireland from future editions led to accusations the ICC had created a 'closed shop' tournament. However, Sharad Pawar, the Indian president of the ICC, subsequently called for the proposal to be reviewed. And, following a two-day meeting of the cricket committee, where former Ireland captain Trent Johnston is the associate nation representative, ICC general manager Dave Richardson told reporters that they would be recommending a qualification series. "The committee resolved to pass on the recommendation that it favoured a system of qualification for the World Cup," he said.