Afghanistan and Ireland may not play the new Test league if the ICC Board ratifies the current proposal © International Cricket Council
Efforts to contextualize international cricket are a step closer to reality after the ICC’s chief executives committee (CEC) worked out a viable schedule for a Test and ODI league.
Option C, as the proposal is known, sees a rolling Test league starting in 2019, in which the top nine Test teams will play 12 Test series on a home-and-away basis over four years. The Test league, as it stands, does not have any space for either Ireland or Afghanistan; Zimbabwe, the lowest-ranked Test side currently, will also not be part of the league. The proposal also contains an ODI league of the top 13 teams to be played over two years from 2020.
‘Option C’ now awaits ratification by the ICC Board which meets on Friday. But that is being looked upon with optimism, given that the BCCI, who had been staunchly against potential structures proposed previously, has backed the new proposal. If approved by the Board, the ICC will formalise the plan, add in specifics such as dates, terms and conditions and present a more detailed schedule to the CEC for approval in the ICC meetings in October.
The new Test League is likely to start immediately after the 2019 World Cup and will run till the beginning of the 2023 World Cup. It will conclude with a play-off between the top two teams at the end of the cycle.
Under the proposal, each country is allowed to play a maximum of 12 Test series – with a minimum of two Test matches per series – over the four-year cycle. Half of the series will be at home, half away. In any given year, one side will play two home series but only one the following year (three home series in two years, or six in four).
Twelve Test series over four years is not far off from what Full Members played in a four-year stretch from 2011-15: Australia played 12, England 13, India 12, South Africa 12, New Zealand 16, West Indies 13, Pakistan 14, Sri Lanka 14, Zimbabwe 9 and Bangladesh 10.
More to follow
Nagraj Gollapudi is a senior assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo