A genuine Test match world championship and an ODI league will be introduced to international cricket after both were given in-principle agreement by the ICC Board on the final day of the governing body’s meeting in Auckland.
While some details remain to be fleshed out, including the points system and the full week-by-week Future Tours Programme, the first two-year Test championship comprising the game’s top-nine teams will begin at the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup, with the top two teams by April 2021 to playoff in a championship final in England in June of that year.
Each competing country will play in six series over that time, three at home and three away, with all series being of a minimum two matches’ duration but able to be expanded to as many as five to cater for encounters such as the Ashes.
The first ODI league, featuring the game’s top 13 limited-overs nations, will commence in 2020-21, running for two years leading into the 2023 World Cup, before converting to a three-year league in each cycle beyond that. Each competing team will play in eight series over that time, each one being played over three matches. The days of lengthier ODI series appears to be over.
More to follow…
Source: ESPN Crickinfo