International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the dates and the venue for the 2023 ODI World Cup Qualifiers. The entire event is slated to take place in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9, 2023.The 2023 World Cup is scheduled for October in India. The hosts along with the top seven teams in the World Super League will qualify directly for the mega event. England are the defending champions; Eoin Morgan’s side won the tournament for the first time in their history by defeating New Zealand in the final. ICC confirmed that two leagues – Cricket World Cup Challenge League A Cricket World Cup Challenge League B – will run alongside the ODI Super League.
Canada will host Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, and Vanuatu in League A. USA will host Bermuda, Hong Kong, Italy, Kenya, and Uganda in League B. "When we rescheduled the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 to October and November 2023 it enabled us to extend the window for qualification events to take place and thereby ensure we maximise the opportunity for qualification to be decided on the field of play," Chris Tetley, ICC head of events, said in a statement. "We have worked very closely with Members and stakeholders to reschedule 96 ODIs and 60 List-A matches and will continue to maintain the safety of participants in our events as our highest priority."Explaining the qualification process, the ICC said in a statement on Wednesday (December 16), "After the 21 tri-series in League 2 have been completed, the top three teams will confirm their place in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023. The bottom four teams will drop into the Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-Off 2023 - which is a repechage event to the Global Qualifier - and will be joined by the winner of Challenge League A and B. "The top two teams from the Play-Off - which has also been rescheduled to 2023 - will keep their hopes alive of participating in India 2023, by qualifying for the Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023."
