2015-17 ICC Intercontinental Cup
| Administrator(s) | International Cricket Council |
|---|---|
| Cricket format | First-class cricket |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) | Various (home and away) |
| Participants | 8 |
| Matches played | 29 |
The 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup is the seventh edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, an international first-class cricket tournament between leading associate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is running from 2015 to 2017. It runs in parallel with the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship but with slightly different teams. As Ireland and Afghanistan have qualified for the ICC One Day International Championship ranking qualification process, they are replaced by Kenya and Nepal in the limited over event; however they continue to play the four-day event.
As a result of changes to the structure of international cricket announced by the ICC in January 2014, the winner of the 2015-17 Intercontinental Cup (and following editions of the tournament) will play four five-day matches against the bottom ranked Test nation (two home and two away matches), an event known as the 2018 ICC Test Challenge. Should the winner of the Intercontinental Cup go on to win the ICC Test Challenge they will become the 11th Test nation.
However, in February 2017 following an ICC Board meeting, changes were agreed in principle to expand the number of Test nations to twelve. Both Ireland and Afghanistan are likely to be granted Test status before the proposed 2018 ICC Test Challenge. The ICC are scheduled to agree the change at their next board meeting in April 2017.
The following are the 8 teams participating in the competition based on the results from 2011–13 ICC World Cricket League Championship, 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two.
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