By Australia coach Andrew McDonald wants squads expanded to 17 players for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup.
He argued that the expanded tournament format, which could see finalists play up to 15 matches against 11 in 2023, makes larger squads necessary.
McDonald warned that a 15-player limit risked producing an attritional tournament given the additional matches involved.
He pointed to the 2023 World Cup, where an injury to Travis Head had limited Australia’s squad options.
Australia also face a demanding build-up to the event, with up to 21 Test matches in the preceding 14 months, including five-Test series against India and England.
Senior fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, all over 30 with injury histories, add to the case for greater squad depth.
The 2027 World Cup, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, will expand to 14 teams and introduce a Super Series round and a Super 7 stage before the semi-finals.
McDonald’s comments add to a broader conversation among coaching staffs across major cricket boards about how squad composition rules should adapt to longer, more physically demanding tournament formats.
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.
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.
(Image: “Andrew McDonald during an Australia practice session at the MCG” by DustyNail, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
