New Delhi, Jan 6: Australia, who recently won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on home soil by 3-1, along with India, England and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are reportedly in talks to have a two-tier Test cricket system, with an eye on having the big three nations playing each other more often.

According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, ICC Chairman Jay Shah, Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief Richard Thompson are set to meet later this month, with a two-tier structure for Test cricket firmly on the agenda of their discussion.

“Their discussions have been given further impetus by enormous crowds and broadcast audiences for Australia’s five matches against India over the past two months, the fourth-best attended series ever in this country and reportedly the most-watched Test series ever played.

“Any plan for a move to two divisions in Test cricket would kick in after the end of the current Future Tours Program in 2027, a year which will also feature a 150th anniversary Test match between Australia and England at the MCG," said the report.

It further said if the two-tier Test structure becomes a reality, then Australia, England and India will be free from having to play Test cricket against many nations, and the three nations would be able to play against each other twice in every three years, instead of every four years, which is currently the case.

Interestingly, the concept of a two-tier system in Test cricket was proposed in an ICC Board meeting in 2016, where seven nations would compete in the first division, while the remaining five countries would compete in the second division.

But it was shelved in 2016, as at that time, the BCCI, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) opposed it.

The report also mentions that if the two-tier system is approved, it would lead to a change in cricketing world, with the World Test Championship running for just one more cycle, despite providing greater context to longer format games since its inception in 2019.

(IANS)

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