World Test Championship Set For Major Expansion As ICC Scraps Two-Tier System: Report

The ICC reportedly plans to expand the World Test Championship to 12 teams, with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland likely to join from the 2027–29 cycle.

South Africa is the current WTC champion

Source : PTI

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The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is a competition involving the longest format of cricket.

Each of its cycles last two years with the top two teams from the table meeting in a final to compete for the Test Mace. Currently, the WTC features 9 teams - India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

However, according to a recent report by ESPNcricinfo, ICC has decided to scrap plans for a two-tier WTC model, which would have segregated top teams like India, Australia, and England from lower ranked teams. 

Instead, a new 12-member plan is said to have been proposed.

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Ireland To Enter WTC?

If ICC goes ahead with this 12 member plan, teams like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland could be the ones to enter the WTC table, albeit only from its next cycle.

The current cycle runs until the Summer of 2027, so the next one should likely kick off from July 2027, running through the Summer of 2029.

All teams will reportedly also then have to play at least a set number matches. The exact figure, though, has not been revealed just yet.

The ESPNcricinfo reported quoted an unnamed board director stating this regarding the proposed WTC expansion:

"It guarantees that everyone is playing Test cricket. Those that really want to play the format now have opportunities and there is an incentive for other teams to play them."

World Test Championship - List Of Winners So Far

Three ICC WTC champions have been crowned so far:

New Zealand (2021)

Australia (2023)

South Africa (2025)

India finished as Runners-Up in the first two editions, while Australia failed to defend its title in the most recent final.

Each team moves up or down the table based on their winning percentage and, as mentioned, the top two teams in the table at the end of a cycle meet in the ICC WTC final.

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