Hardly had the dust settled on the Border-Gavaskar series Down Under when a piece of news floated and created a flutter in the cricketing world. It has emerged that Australia, England, India, and the International Cricket Council’s new chair, Jay Shah, are in talks to split Test cricket into two divisions so that the Big Three can play each other more often in blockbuster series.
According to a report in the Australian newspaper The Age, Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and England Cricket Board boss Richard Thompson are set to meet later this month, with a two-tier structure for Test cricket on the agenda.
The discussions around this concept have gained momentum due to the 2024-25 BGT series, comprising five Tests, being the fourth-best attended series in Australia, with record crowds in Melbourne and Sydney, alongside high TV viewership.
However, according to the report, any plan to move to two divisions in Test cricket would only take effect after the current Future Tours Programme concludes in 2027. This is also the year when a 150th-anniversary Test match between Australia and England is scheduled at the MCG.

As per the proposal, India, Australia, and England would no longer be required to play all cricketing nations and could rejig their cycles to play each other twice every three years, rather than twice every four years as is currently the case. The ICC has remained silent when asked for a reaction.
Ironically, this development comes at a time when Australia is set to play South Africa—often excluded from the ‘Big Three’ plans—in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June.
The concept has its loyal supporters. Commentating on SEN Radio during the fifth Test at Sydney, former India coach Ravi Shastri expressed concern over the crowded schedule, advocating for more “best versus the best” matches in Test cricket. “I’ve always believed that if you want Test cricket to survive and thrive, this is the way to go. The top teams should play each other more often, creating a contest,” Shastri said.
The potential impact on the development—and even survival—of Test cricket in the West Indies, once a cricketing powerhouse, is troubling. Naturally, voices from the West Indies have expressed concern. “A two-tier system makes sense, but space must be made for top nations to tour those in the lower bracket, or smaller nations will disappear,” warned West Indies fast-bowling legend Michael Holding in his column in The Telegraph.
Holding’s former captain Clive Lloyd also expressed his unease, believing that efforts should instead focus on ensuring struggling teams get more opportunities to play against the top sides.
“I think it will be terrible for all those countries who worked so hard to achieve Test status. Now they’ll be relegated to playing among themselves in the lower section. How will they reach the top? (Only) by playing against better teams,” said the 80-year-old during an online media interaction.
“Honestly, a two-tier system shouldn’t happen. It’s not ideal because only the top three teams will earn more revenue,” a former Indian cricketer of repute told TOI, highlighting the move’s economic imbalance. “And if you’re talking about quality, it’s not as though India played high-class cricket in Australia.
Instead of this, the ICC should support smaller, weaker cricketing nations and focus on improving their skill levels. A proper WTC cycle, where everyone plays everyone, would be a better idea. In this WTC cycle, even Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had a chance of making it to the final at one stage. Almost all the teams were winning away from home and beating each other,” he said.
It is important to note that 2024 was a year of unexpected results in Test cricket, making it an unusually exciting period for the red-ball format. This included West Indies stunning Australia in a pink-ball Test at the Gabba in Brisbane and India’s 3-1 defeat in the BGT last week. In this context, many argue that the past year has seen the rebirth of Test cricket.
“A couple of years back, in 2022, Bangladesh secured their maiden Test win in New Zealand at Mount Maunganui. We need to ensure that Test cricket remains alive and exciting. Who says Test cricket is dying? There are matches lasting the full five days too,” said the cricketer.
Apart from the skewed revenue sharing, there is also a practical issue with this concept. “I feel that this idea would be good and feasible if there were 15 teams playing Test cricket,” said former India wicketkeeper and chief selector Kiran More. “At the moment, that isn’t the case. You just have nine to ten countries playing the five-day game. How much can you shuffle between so few teams in two tiers?” asked More.
Back home, domestic cricket stalwarts saw shades of the Ranji structure in the concept. “It’s a very good idea. If you can have six top cricketing nations in Tier 1 and six in Tier 2, it could work well,” said current UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput. “A lower-ranked team like Zimbabwe, for example, would get hammered if it played against India or Australia. After the end of a WTC cycle, the bottom two in the top six could be relegated to the second tier, while the top two could be promoted for the next WTC cycle. This would mean that there would be something to play for in all the WTC matches,” explained the former India opener.
“Like the Ranji Trophy, relegation and promotion would make things more exciting. A two-tier system would ensure that the best teams get to play against each other more often, leading to healthy competition. The lower-ranked teams would have the motivation to perform well, beat the top sides, and move up to Tier 1, while Tier 1 teams would strive to maintain their position,” he said. “Currently, West Indies, and to an extent even Sri Lanka, don’t have strong Test teams, which means that the top sides look to secure big wins against them to accumulate points for WTC final qualification,” added Rajput.
Since its inception in 2019, the success of the WTC has shown that change in Test cricket isn’t always detrimental. With broadcasters eager for more matches involving India, England, and Australia, the ICC, under its new chair Jay Shah, supported by England and Australia, will undoubtedly think carefully about the two-tier concept.
In a potential win-win, could this also free up space for a second IPL in the September-October window—a lucrative prospect the BCCI has long been keen on? Watch this space!