Andrew McDonald, Australia’s 2023 World Cup winning coach, has argued for larger squad numbers in the 2027 ODI World Cup, after the ICC’s decision to expand the tournament with a new structure revealed earlier this month.
The ICC stated a week ago that the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, will feature 14 teams, a Super Series round before the group stages, and a new Super 7 before the semi-finals. This is a departure from the 10-team ODI World Cup in India in 2023, which Australia claimed.
In the event, Australia played 11 games, comprising nine group games, a semi-final, and a final. The victor of the 2027 event will have to compete in at least 13 matches, comprising five group games, six Super 7 games, a semi-final, and a final. If one of the bottom three rated teams that play the two-match’super series’ to begin the tournament advances to the final, the winner may have to play 15 games.
Australia has often lobbied for larger squad sizes during World Cups, having dealt with injury issues in their squads for the 2019 and 2023 editions, as well as the 2022, 2024, and 2026 T20 world cups.
McDonald said 15-player squads can be risky, as injuries to key players like Travis Head and Kane Williamson left teams with only 12-13 options in the last World Cup, affecting team balance and adaptability across changing conditions.
Head broke his finger in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup, and Australia decided not to replace him in the squad because he was expected to be cleared by medical staff halfway through. Under ICC rules, a player cannot be left out of the 15-man team and then return halfway through the tournament to replace another player unless they are an injured replacement permitted by the tournament’s technical committee.
Instead, Australia started the tournament with Head in their 15 and played five matches with just 14 fit players available. As a result, they decided not to include a second specialist spinner in the roster and instead relied on Adam Zampa’s health.
Head’s bet paid off, as he scored a century in his first game back and was named player of the match in both the semi-final and final, hitting 62 and taking 2 for 21 against South Africa in the semis before plundering a match-winning 137 against India.
Australia is concerned about how fit their squad will be by the start of the 2027 World Cup, as they are scheduled to play 20, possibly 21 Tests in the 14 months leading up to the event, including five-Test tours of India and England in the first seven months of 2027.
ODI captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, and Alex Carey are expected to play the majority, if not all, of those Tests, as well as the ODI World Cup, while Josh Inglis and Matt Renshaw may appear on a number of Test tours during that time, as well as some bilateral white-ball cricket prior to the World Cup.
Green is the only player under 30, and the quicks have all been injured during the last two years, with none of them competing in the 2025 Champions Trophy or the 2026 T20 World Cup.
McDonald asked the ICC to examine squad numbers of 17, noting the FIFA World Cup, which allowed for squad sizes of 26 despite having 11 players on the pitch and Spain winning the tournament with only eight matches.
McDonald emphasised the need of preventing attrition when playing multiple games in a given time frame. You want the top players to be available. So, there should be a discourse regarding the squad sizes.This is going to be the peak event.
“There’s an argument to say, great, you’ve put more games in front of us, give us larger squads, allow us to play the way that we need to play within those conditions, and then you’ve got the ability to carry those potential stars of the game who are under injury clouds leading up to the World Cup, so you’re going to have some people that potentially are 50-50 at that point in time.
“So let’s bring the top players in there. Give us larger squads to go through the early stages, and perhaps the ultimate event will feature the top players, rather than those who are ruled out early due to injury or the attritional nature of a World Cup.”
The ICC is likely to maintain 15-person squads while ensuring that the calendar allows for at least two days of rest between matches for each team.
McDonald believes the Associate nations were unfairly treated by the ICC’s decision to limit the World Cup to 14 teams. Three of them were forced to compete in a’super series’ for the 12th slot in the group stages.
McDonald stated it’s a unique tournament setup. “I believe the Associate states have been slightly punished in this regard.
I believe there was a notion, if not a directive, from the ICC that there would be more Associate nations at this 50-over World Cup, and we’ve seen the expansion of Associate nations in the T20 scene, which I believe has benefited cricket.”
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