Radical plan may result in two England-Australia Ashes series every three years

England and Australia could play two Ashes series every three years from 2027 onwards under a radical two division plan being considered for Test cricket.

According to a report in the Melbourne Age, Australia, England and India, plus Jay Shah, the new chair of the International Cricket Council, are due to meet later this month to discuss splitting the 12 Test nations into two tiers. It would also allow the so-called “Big Three” countries to play their hugely lucrative series more often.

The news follows a bumper Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India that saw the hosts prevail 3-1 amid huge crowds. It was Australia’s fourth-best attended series – the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne drew a record 373,691 spectators over its five days – and was reportedly the most-watched Test series ever played in the country. The arrival of England’s Bazballer’s for the Ashes next winter could well challenge these numbers.

As it stands, the nine-team, two-year World Test Championship is baked into the schedule until mid-2027, with the future tours programme for the period that follows still to be drawn up by the ICC and its full member boards. Were the number of teams in the top flight to be cut to seven from 2027 onwards – as per a previous proposal in 2016 – it could see the Ashes and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played every 18 months.

How the split would be achieved is yet to be established. If seven is the desired number for the top division and the current Test rankings were used, it would feature Australia, South Africa, India, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The current World Test Championship ladder sees Bangladesh in seventh place ahead of Pakistan, however, a discrepancy that could arise again were the 2025-27 WTC table to be used.

Further questions would surround the issue of India and Pakistan not playing each other outside of ICC white-ball events, while any second division would need the carrot of promotion (and thus relegation from the top division) to prevent the likes of West Indies and Bangladesh being cut adrift. As it stands, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan do not feature in the WTC at all.

View image in fullscreen Almost 375,000 spectators attended the fourth Test between Australia and India in Melbourne last month. Photograph: Santanu Banik/Speed Media/Shutterstock

India’s support or otherwise will be key, although the involvement of Shah as chair of ICC – new in the role after five years as secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India – suggests it may already be there. A proposal for two divisions was rejected by India back in 2016 for fear of widening the gap between the haves and have-nots.

“As the governing body of the game, the ICC’s job is to popularise the game and increase its global reach,” said Anurag Thakur, Shah’s predecessor at the BCCI, when two divisions for Test cricket was first mooted eight years ago.

“On the contrary, this system may be good for the top five but everyone else will suffer. On the one hand, we say we need to support teams like West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while on the other, by bringing up something like this, we will cut their legs.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board was in favour at the time, with Colin Graves, then chair, quoted as saying: “We are all for it, without a shadow of a doubt. I think we have to do something with Test cricket to make it worthwhile, to get people back interested and make it relevant. If we end up in division two, it is our own fault, simple as that.”

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This latest push to condense the top tier is being driven by broadcast money and ongoing tension between international cricket and Twenty20 cricket’s private franchise leagues regarding scheduling and players. Although it also comes after a year which saw West Indies secure a famous 1-1 draw in Australia, and Bangladesh sweep Pakistan 2-0 away from home.

Shah, who began as ICC chair in December, has already floated the idea of a dedicated fund for Test cricket that would standardise match fees and, in theory, stem the talent drain away from the red-ball format.

The World Test Championship – the latest edition of which will see defending champions Australia play South Africa in the final at Lord’s in June – has not been without its critics since it began in 2019, chiefly due to the imbalance of fixtures. Ben Stokes, the England Test captain, is among them, having called its league system “utterly confusing”.

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