The next World Test Championship could look a lot bigger – and much simpler. After months of talks, an ICC working group has recommended a single-division WTC involving all 12 Full Members from July 2027, effectively shelving the latest push for a promotion-and-relegation model. At the same time, officials have floated bringing back the ODI Super League, last seen in the run-up to the 2023 World Cup.
Roger Twose, the former New Zealand batter who heads the group, laid out the proposals during last week’s board and Chief Executives’ Committee meetings in Dubai. Members had begged for clarity, because bilateral scheduling for the 2027-29 Test cycle is already under way.
Why the two-tier idea failed
Money – or the lack of a workable spread of it – proved the sticking point. Had it gone ahead, India, England and Australia were expected to funnel extra cash to a second division. That notion fizzled once questions arose over exactly how, and for how long, such support could be guaranteed.
On the cricketing side, prospective Division Two nations such as West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan worried they would lose marquee fixtures and broadcast income. Equally, the so-called big three baulked at any threat of dropping out of the top flight. As ECB chair Richard Thompson told the BBC back in August:
“We wouldn’t want, as England, we may go through a fallow period, and that means, what, we fall into Division Two and we don’t play Australia and India? That couldn’t happen. There has to be a sense that common sense needs to play out here.”
The compromise – if you can call it that – is straightforward: one league, 12 sides, with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland joining the current nine. Each team will still have to play a minimum number of Tests; the exact figure is to be hammered out over the next few months. Importantly, there is no fresh central pot for hosting costs, an issue Ireland and Zimbabwe regularly cite.
“It guarantees that everyone is playing Test cricket,” a board director told ESPNcricinfo. “Those that really want to play the format now have opportunities and there is an incentive for other teams to play them.”
White-ball rethink
While Test cricket hogged the headlines, administrators also took another look at the 50-over game. The ODI Super League, launched in 2020 to inject context into bilateral one-dayers and then dropped post-2023, could return in 2028. Details – size, qualification pathway, whether Associates get a run – remain sketchy, yet the idea has traction among smaller boards who miss the guaranteed fixtures.
“The Super League could help revitalise the 50-over format,” one administrator said. “Maybe the problem is not that the format is necessarily dead, it’s finding the proper structure.”
For now, the 2027 men’s World Cup stays at 14 teams. No serious push has surfaced to go beyond that – calendar space and commercial realities count for plenty – but discussions are likely to rumble on as the format’s place in the global schedule keeps shrinking.
What next?
The ICC’s cricket committee will fine-tune both proposals before the annual conference in July. Expect fierce debate over minimum Test commitments and whether extra funds can be set aside for boards that struggle to stage five-day cricket. With the men’s T20 calendar increasingly stuffed, squeezing in more Tests may prove as tricky as the financing.
Still, for players who dream of a Baggy Green or a maroon cap, any expansion of the longest format is welcome. A senior Caribbean official summed it up quietly in the corridor outside the Dubai meeting: “Look, we just want a fair crack at Test cricket. If this model delivers it, great. If not, we’ll be back at the table.”
That, in essence, is the mood across the membership. Pragmatism, not grand redesigns, appears to be winning the day – at least until the next round of negotiations rolls in.
