Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to raise the squad ceiling to 17 players for the 2027 Men's ODI World Cup, warning that the tournament's expanded format risks becoming a war of attrition if teams are capped at the current 15-player limit. McDonald made his case in an interview with SEN Radio, citing injury-management challenges Australia faced at the 2023 World Cup in India.

The New Format and Its Demands

Earlier in July 2025, the ICC unveiled a revamped structure for the 2027 edition, to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. The tournament retains 14 teams but introduces a new 'Super 7' stage ahead of the semi-finals. Under this layout, finalists will play a minimum of 13 matches — up from 11 in 2023 — with the possibility of competing in as many as 15 games, depending on their qualification route.

McDonald argued that this increased workload makes a compelling case for larger rosters. 'One of the big things from my perspective is if it's going to be your pinnacle event, what do your squad sizes look like?' he said.

The Travis Head Problem — and the Broader Injury Risk

Travis Head was the most high-profile casualty of Australia's 2023 campaign, missing the first five matches after suffering a broken hand. He returned for the league game in Dharamshala and went on to score a match-winning century in the final against India in Ahmedabad. McDonald noted that New Zealand faced a similar predicament, with Kane Williamson and others sidelined, leaving both sides effectively selecting from 12-13 fit players in the early rounds.

'You end up with sort of 12-13 players to select from early on in your tournament, and you're trying to carry those other players through the early rounds, and you're not able to play potentially the way that you want to play,' McDonald said.

Australia's Scheduling Crunch Adds Urgency

Australia's concerns are sharpened by a punishing lead-up schedule. The side is set to play up to 21 Test matches in the 14 months preceding the tournament, including demanding five-Test tours of both India and England. Key pace bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc — all past 30 and carrying significant injury histories — make squad depth a strategic necessity rather than a luxury.

'The cricket leading into the World Cup is demanding. So you're going to have some people that potentially are 50-50 at that point in time. So let's carry the best players in there,' McDonald said.

Concerns Over Associate Nations

McDonald also raised reservations about the format's impact on Associate nations, suggesting they had been 'penalised a little bit' by the new structure despite notable growth in white-ball cricket. He acknowledged there had been an expectation — or at least a direction from the ICC — that the 2027 edition would feature greater Associate participation, building on the momentum seen in the T20 World Cup landscape.

'I think there was a direction potentially from the ICC that there was going to be more Associate nations at this 50-over World Cup, which we've seen the growth of the Associate nations within the T20 landscape, which I think has been beneficial for cricket,' he said.

What Happens Next

The ICC has not yet responded publicly to McDonald's proposal. With the 2027 World Cup still roughly two years away, squad-size regulations are likely to be finalised as part of the broader tournament playing conditions process. Whether other national coaches echo McDonald's call could determine whether the ICC revisits the current limit before the event.