India, England & Australia officials to meet, split Test cricket into two divisions

By Nick Hoult of Daily Telegraph UK

England could play the Ashes twice every three years under radical proposals to overhaul test cricket.

A two-tier structure could be introduced in 2027 which would mean England, Australia and India playing each other more often in lucrative series.

A report in the Melbourne Age says that Jay Shah, the new chair of the International Cricket Council and former head of the Indian board, will meet with Richard Thompson and Mike Baird, the chairmen of the England & Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia, later this month to discuss the proposal.

If ratified it would mean the “Big Three” playing each other twice every three years rather than every four years under the current model. It is understood that the ECB have not been involved in any discussions about the matter yet.

Test cricket could be split into two divisions of seven and five with England, India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the top division and Bangladesh, West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe making up tier two.

Michael Vaughan, former England captain and Telegraph Sport columnist, voiced his support saying: “It has to happen.” He has advocated two divisions before.

The current Future Tours Programme runs out in 2027. Talks will begin this year about its replacement with boards keen to maximise television broadcast revenue.

For the “Big Three”, playing each other brings in the most money. England play India this winter and counties will benefit from bumper gates while the majority of the board’s overseas television rights income is based on the India home series.

Australia have enjoyed big crowds for their home series victory over India, which concluded at the weekend. A record of 373,879 spectators passed through the MCG for the Boxing Day Test with an average daily crowd across the five-match series of 41,894.

A two-tier system was discussed in 2016 but dropped after opposition from the Indian board who feared the effect it would have on the smaller nations. But then India relied on their votes around the ICC table to ensure its dominance.

Greg Barclay, who stood down as ICC chair on December 1, told Telegraph Sport after he left office that he questioned the wisdom of some of the smaller nations such as Zimbabwe and Ireland playing test cricket and also floated the idea of West Indies splitting into regional islands.

“There’s some structural change that probably needs to be contemplated. Some countries are trying to play test cricket that maybe shouldn’t,” he said. “Why are Ireland playing test cricket?

“Whatever money they’ve got surely they should be investing into grass roots to try and grow their numbers. Every time they’re playing a test, they lose an enormous amount of money. Why is Zimbabwe playing test cricket? They lose money on the broadcast deal, so it makes no sense at all.”

This century, test cricket has continually tried to introduce a more coherent structure and greater context for matches. But these plans have repeatedly failed: short-termism and self-interest have continually won out.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission