Another failure for India, ICC makes important decision regarding World Test Championship
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected India’s proposal for a two-tier World Test Championship. According to details, all 12 full member nations will be included in the same division in the next edition of the ICC World Test Championship.
The plan to divide the teams into two tiers has not received widespread support. A working group headed by former New Zealand batsman Roger Toews has been tasked with examining key issues related to all three formats of cricket.
According to Cricinfo, the working group presented its recommendations to the ICC Board and Chief Executives Committee at the ICC meeting held in Dubai last week. The two-tier system has been discussed from time to time for the past decade, this issue was once again considered but was abandoned due to the lack of an effective funding model.
It was previously suggested that India, England and Australia should financially support the second-tier teams, but this did not go ahead, with the West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who were likely to move to Division Two, opposing the proposal.
The three major cricketing nations were also concerned about the risk that if they performed poorly, they could be relegated due to financial losses.
England Cricket Board chief Richard Thompson had said a few months ago that we would not want to see England go into Division Two and not be able to play India or Australia if they were to suffer a setback. This is not possible, it requires common sense.
As a result, the working group has proposed a DTC of 12 teams, possibly including Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland. The new period will start in July 2027, with each team required to play a certain number of Test matches, although the number has not yet been determined.
Additional funding will not be available, which is already a barrier to countries like Ireland hosting Test cricket.
