ICC brainstorms on 4-year Test cycle and Test championship final venue

The planners of world cricket will brainstorm for a couple of days, as they meet in Dubai to finalise a fresh schedule. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is eager to come up with a new calendar, which will replace the existing Future Tours Programme (FTP) from 2019. The meeting will take place in ICC headquarters on Monday and Tuesday. It has been reported that nine teams will play each other in a period with minimum 3 games.

For now, the proposal is to have a four-year international plan for a Test championship that will wrap up with a one-off Test at Lord’s in 2023. The top two teams during the four-year cycle will take part in the ‘final Test’ that will determine the world Test champions. But the question raised now is what if England doesn’t make it to the finals at Lord’s.

Venue for the finals

Considering the top teams can be India, Australia, South Africa or Pakistan; the venue may shift to Wankhede, MCG, Wanderers or Dubai. Teams like Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan won’t be participating. According to reports, the Test championship cycle will make it mandatory for each team to play twice against every other country in these four years.

What will shape up as a full-fledged series is something that will be determined during the meeting. The idea is to have series that will have a minimum of three Tests, although bilateral series involving India and England could have five Tests. Apart from that, England and Australia always participate in the 5-match Ashes series.

Point-based system

The other decision that will require some thinking is the criteria to identify the finalists. There is a chance that the top two could be as per the ICC Test rankings but there is also a suggestion to determine the positions on the basis of points from each Test won, lost or drawn.