USA, Canada cricket to stay suspended; Mauritius membership confirmed

USA Cricket (USAC) and Cricket Canada (CC) will continue to remain suspended while France Cricket has also been put on notice. These were some of the key decisions taken by the International Cricket Council (ICC) during its just-concluded Annual Conference in Edinburgh.

As first reported by Cricketlineguruji on July 4, the ICC has also granted Associate membership to the Mauritius Cricket Federation (MCF). With Mauritius' entry, the ICC's total membership has gone up to 111 - comprising 12 Full Members and 99 Associate Members.

The ICC also discussed at length the situation involving the associations in the US and Canada but, in the end, the world body's administrators decided to maintain the status quo. The significance of restoring the membership to the USAC was recognised, particularly in the context of the LA28 Olympics, but a decision has been deferred. The USAC has been under suspension since September 2025.

The Canada issue is less clear. Sources say Cricket Canada, which was suspended in June, will have to address certain internal issues, the details of which remain unclear. There is also talk that USA's Major League Cricket (MLC) could have a team from Canada. The ICC may wait to see how that expansion pans out.

There is no immediate indication that the World Test Championship (WTC) will be expanded to 12 teams by including Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland. No such decision seems to have been taken by the ICC Board. There is also no clarity on reducing ODIs to 40 overs, as reported by a section of the media.

However, there was a presentation on the ICC's strategy for the next cycle, and some proposals on restructuring the game going forward were discussed. JioStar, the ICC's official media partner, also made a presentation to the members of the world body. The details of the presentations are still not clear.

The annual conference, which commenced on July 8, concluded on Saturday (July 11).