Australia coach Andrew McDonald has urged the International Cricket Council to expand squad sizes to 17 players for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup, a request that highlights broader workforce planning challenges in professional sport.
The expanded tournament format could see finalists play up to 15 matches, compared with 11 at the 2023 edition, forming the basis for McDonald’s request.
He warned that a 15-player squad limit could lead to an attritional tournament given the additional matches, a risk-management concern relevant to any organisation managing a demanding, injury-prone workforce.
McDonald cited the 2023 World Cup, where an injury to Travis Head had limited Australia’s squad flexibility during the tournament.
Australia’s schedule ahead of the event is similarly demanding, with up to 21 Test matches over 14 months, including five-Test tours of India and England.
Senior fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are all over 30 and carry injury histories, underscoring the need for greater squad depth and contingency planning.
The 2027 World Cup, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, will expand to 14 teams, adding a Super Series round and a Super 7 stage before the semi-finals.
McDonald’s push for larger squads comes as several cricket boards have separately raised concerns about player workload amid an increasingly packed international calendar spanning bilateral series, multi-team tournaments and franchise leagues.
Australia’s pace attack of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc has been central to the team’s success across formats in recent years, making their fitness and workload management a recurring talking point for the team management.
The 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and will feature 14 teams, expanded from the 10-team format used at the 2023 edition held in India.
The new tournament structure includes a Super Series round before the group stages, followed by a Super 7 round ahead of the semi-finals, extending the overall length and physical demands of the event compared to previous editions.
(Image: “Andrew McDonald during an Australia practice session at the MCG” by DustyNail, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)