The International Cricket Council could approve a major expansion of the World Test Championship (WTC) later this month, with plans on the table to turn the current nine-team competition into a 12-team event from the next cycle.
The proposed change would bring Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan into the WTC from July 2027, widening the red-ball competition at a time when smaller Full Member nations have been pushing for greater inclusion.
The ICC had originally planned to discuss the matter during its first quarterly meetings of 2026, but those meetings in Doha were postponed due to the regional conflict involving Iran. While online discussions were held instead, they remained largely informal and did not settle the major issues already under debate.
Support for the expanded WTC is understood to remain strong. A previous proposal to split Test-playing nations into two tiers failed to gain broad backing, especially from smaller boards that feared it would further limit their chances of playing regular red-ball cricket against top opposition.
The 12-team model is now seen as the more likely option, with countries already discussing bilateral schedules for the next Future Tours Programme.
Teams are expected to be required to play a minimum number of Tests in the next WTC cycle, while one-off Tests may also be introduced to encourage bigger nations to play smaller sides more often.
That could particularly benefit teams like Zimbabwe, which has been looking to attract visiting nations touring nearby South Africa.
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