International Cricket Council

ICC will tackle one of the most defining questions of the modern game: How can cricket preserve its traditional sanctity as franchise T20 leagues reshape the sport’s global landscape? As outlined in the background guide I completed for HMUN 2026 , cricket now faces unprecedented commercial and structural pressures. Leagues like the IPL, Big Bash League, and PSL have accelerated a shift toward instant entertainment, massive player salaries, and increasingly congested calendars. While this growth has injected money and new fans into the sport, it has simultaneously tested cricket’s foundations – particularly the survival of Test cricket, the balance between bat and ball, and the primacy of national representation. Delegates will represent ICC Board members and influential figures across global cricket and debate how to maintain equilibrium between tradition and innovation. Key tensions include player migration to private leagues, declining bilateral relevance, shrinking Test calendars, governing power imbalances, and widening financial inequality between boards. The committee will also consider scheduling reforms, equitable revenue distribution, and ICC-level regulation of domestic leagues. Australia, as a nation with deep cricketing heritage and one of the world’s most substantial cricket audiences, is the ideal setting for this conversation. Delegates will be challenged to craft policy solutions that ensure Test cricket and national allegiance remain meaningful, while allowing T20 leagues to coexist as engines of growth. The goal is not to choose between formats, but to design a future where cricket’s soul endures, even as the sport embraces modernity.