The ICC is weighing a shake‑up to the men's World Cups, proposing a reduction of the 50‑over tournament from 14 to 12 teams and the addition of a ‘super seven’ stage, angels potentially in place for the 2027 edition co‑hosted by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. To reach this, only two teams would progress from the global qualifier rather than the originally planned four.

A similar review covers the T20 World Cup, with the ‘super eight’ phase being expanded to a ‘super 10’. This could boost the marketable India versus Pakistan fixture, which the ICC wishes to feature more often.

England, India and Australia have their key Future Tours Programme (FTP) fixtures for 2027‑2031 locked in, while other full members still need to sort out schedules. A meeting slated for August will aim to finalise the calendar before a September review. The ICC also foresees a decline in white‑ball bilateral series after the next FTP cycle, replaced instead by mini inter‑continental quadrangular tournaments featuring two teams from each full member region.