ICC CEO David Richardson says the proposed 2021 Champions Trophy will be replaced by a World T20. 

The Champions Trophy has been under evaluation for a while, with the 2013 tournament already meant to be the last one.

However, it still remained a fan favourite and the 2017 tournament held in England saw Pakistan crowned surprising victors, bringing in a huge amount of media attention.

During a press conference in Kolkata on Thursday, Richardson said: ‘In all likelihood, the 2021 Champions Trophy will be a World T20.’

This came after his announcement that all 104 members – both men’s and women’s teams – will be granted T20I status.

The ICC CEO also announced that a global ranking system will be launched for the format. There are currently 18 members with T20I status – 12 full members plus Scotland, Netherlands, Hong Kong, UAE, Oman and Nepal.

‘All women’s team matches will be awarded T20 International status on 1 July 2018. All the men’s team matches will be given T20 International status on 1 January 2019,’ Richardson said.

He also announced that they will be more strict on ball tampering and sledging.

‘Stricter and heavier transactions for ball tampering and using abusive language, sledging, dissent,’ said Richardson.

‘We want penalties in place. Fines are not proving to be the answer. The cricket committee will come back with plans.’

Richardson is also aware of the growing support for T20 leagues around the globe and its major impact on the international cricket calendar. There is talk that the Indian Premier League may have an official window set aside for it from 2020.

‘There are occasions where they [T20 leagues] are competing with international bilateral series. We need to look at our regulations to see how we can allow that to happen,’ Richardson said.

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