Biggest shake-up in cricket history likely today

TIL Desk Sports/ One of the biggest shake-ups in cricket history could take place when the sport’s global governing body convenes in Edinburgh today. Radical plans for the creation of two divisions in Test cricket and a one-day international league will be on the agenda of the International Cricket Council’s week-long annual meeting in the Scottish capital.

Since Australia and England played the first Test in 1877, international matches have largely been matters for the two countries concerned and the same has generally been true of ODIs outside of tournaments such as the World Cup.  The ICC has introduced weighted Test rankings but the complicated formula has failed to capture the imagination of cricket fans and the wider sporting public.

With many top players increasingly tempted by offers to play in domestic Twenty20 events such as the Indian Premier League, where they can earn more money in less time than by playing Tests, officials are keen to give the long-format game greater “context”.