ICC Considers Four-Day Tests to Expand World Test Championship

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is considering sanctioning four-day Test matches in the 2027-29 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle to enhance the visibility of red-ball cricket and support smaller cricketing nations by making Test series shorter and more manageable. The 2025-27 WTC cycle, starting with Sri Lanka hosting Bangladesh, will feature 27 Test series among nine teams, with mostly two-match series and a few longer ones, including five-match series between India, Australia, and England. South Africa, the reigning WTC champions, will start their campaign in Pakistan and host Australia in 2026, while India, under new captain Shubman Gill, begins a five-match series against England, highlighting a challenging schedule for young teams. The ICC plans to mandate a minimum of 98 overs per day in four-day Tests to compensate for lost time, and traditional trophies like the Border-Gavaskar and Ashes will continue with five-match series. Bangladesh will play 12 matches in this cycle, evenly split between home and away series, aiming to build on gradual performance improvements since their WTC debut. The move to four-day Tests aims to help emerging nations increase their participation in Test cricket by reducing the time and financial burden associated with five-day matches.