The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided that the World Test Championship (WTC) will remain a nine-team competition for the next two cycles, covering the periods of 2027–2029 and 2029–2031. This decision effectively blocks any potential expansion of the tournament through 2031, maintaining the status quo of the current format. As a result, full ICC members Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan will remain excluded from the premier test championship for the foreseeable future. Despite intense debate surrounding the potential expansion of the tournament, the nine-team model ultimately prevailed during the board’s deliberations.
The ICC board convened for an all-day meeting in Bali on November 15, 2026, where the future format of the WTC was a central topic of discussion. Recommendations presented to the board advocated for keeping the competition at nine teams for both upcoming cycles, a move that was widely anticipated and ultimately endorsed by the board. Concerns regarding commercial value and revenue stability were cited as the primary reasons behind the decision to leave the tournament’s format unchanged.
Which teams are in and who stays excluded?
The nine nations confirmed to participate in the World Test Championship are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. All nine of these nations have participated in the competition since its inception, and no new members are expected to be admitted under the structure approved for either the 2027–2029 or 2029–2031 cycles.
Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan each hold full ICC membership and possess the right to play Test cricket, yet none of the three will participate in the WTC. Because there is no promotion or relegation pathway to allow these nations to enter the nine-team group, their exclusion is purely structural rather than a reflection of their on-field performance. Cricket South Africa chief executive Pholetsi Moseki made an emphatic appeal for expansion during the ICC Executives’ Committee meeting on November 14, 2026, the day before the full board convened in Bali. However, this appeal is unlikely to alter the final outcome. Zimbabwe‘s interest in joining the championship has been noted, though no concrete pathway into either of the next two cycles has been confirmed.
Why is the ICC holding the WTC at nine teams?
Commercial considerations are at the core of the ICC’s decision to keep the field narrow. The WTC operates through bilateral agreements arranged between member boards, with league fixtures distributed across each two-year cycle. Introducing additional nations into this structure would complicate scheduling and, according to the reasoning presented to the board, risk reducing the commercial returns generated by the current format.