The International Cricket Council (ICC) has agreed to a nine-team Test championship spread over a period of two years, with Lord’s cricket ground to be the tentative host for the final of the championship to be played in 2021. The ICC has worked upon the proposal but a final confirmation is awaited.

As per the proposal, the competition would comprise of nine teams with the each team scheduled to play each other once. A team will play four home and four away games, a system that was followed in Ranji Trophy till last season.

The ICC is also pondering to guarantee the Test status to Ireland and Afghanistan. With the apex board yet to decide upon guaranteeing Test status to associate nations, the league could see a change in the number of teams and matches.

Just like the same, the ICC also has a plan to implement the same system in ODIs, where the league will comprise of 13 teams. As per the plans, the league would go on to be played for three years with a 50-over World Cup being played every fourth year. The top seven teams in the league will earn a direct qualification for the World Cup whereas other teams will have to play a qualifying tournament to earn a place in the tournament for the remaining two spots. This means the ICC has a plan to cut down the number of teams in World Cup to nine, as compared to 10 that will participate in the 2019 World Cup.

The ICC also plans to introduce the same system for the T20s but there is still a long way to go for this.