ICC may agree to changes in point system in WTC cycle; two-tier system plan likely to be deferred

London: The International Cricket Council could agree to major changes in the points system of the World Test Championships from the next cycle, while it is likely to defer the contentious proposal to segregate Test cricket into two divisions during its meetings in Zimbabwe over the weekend, a report in the Guardian said on Saturday.

The governing body for the sport has been long contemplating a new system of bonus points based on the margin of victory — "similar to that used in rugby union, while weighting points for wins based on the strength of opponents and adding extra points for winning away from home" — and it could be a big point of discussion during a series of meetings.

The next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle begins with India touring England for a five-match series in June this year, five days after the conclusion of the final for the 2023-2025 cycle between and South Africa and Australia at Lord's.

The current WTC system awards the same number of points — 12 for a win, six for a tie and four for a draw — which has given rise to discontent that India, England and Australia — the Big Three in cricket — "are disadvantaged as they play more games against each other".

"South Africa's achievement in reaching this year's final led to some resentment as they did so without playing England or Australia. Series wins against West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, a draw against India and defeat in India yielded enough points for the Proteas to reach the final for the first time," the report added.

The report also said that the issue of over-rate penalties will also come up for discussion, with England's director of cricket Rob Key highlighting the severity of the WTC points on the rankings.

"Six of the nine teams in the current edition have been hit with penalties for slow play, England are the worst offenders. They lost 22 points across their campaign to finish sixth with a points percentage of 41.5. However, their win percentage of 51.5 during this period is third best behind the finalists, South Africa and Australia," the report said.

Single-league format to likely continue

The report added that the ICC could, for now, put on hold the plan to divide Test cricket into two divisions and continue with the single-league WTC format.

"A proposal from Cricket Australia to move to two divisions will not be put to a vote," said the report.

It said that the ICC needed more time to figure out the sporting and financial implications of the two-tier system and that the proposal could be on the agenda ahead of the 2027-2029 WTC cycle.

"Rather than expanding to two divisions of six by adding Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe to the WTC, the next edition running from this summer until 2027 will retain its existing nine-team format," said the report.

Cricket Australia is said to be in favour of having two divisions, which would entail Australia, England and India playing against each other twice every three years, "rather than the current model of two series in four years, and generate huge financial returns".

The other Test-playing countries have expressed their reservations to the two-tier system, arguing that it could lead to them falling even further behind the so-called Big Three.