• Competition could begin in 2019 with first final scheduled for 2021 • ODI league of 13 teams to decide World Cup places also in pipeline

The International Cricket Council has moved closer towards providing Test cricket with a meaningful structure after a consensus was reached on Friday over the creation of a nine-team Test championship to run from 2019 and feature a final every two years.

A competition that goes beyond the rankings system has been a subject of debate at ICC level for some time and while proposals for two divisions or a conference-style system have been dismissed previously, a two-day meeting of chief executives in Dubai during the week has seen a plan agreed in principle but still requiring board approval.

Under the proposal it is understood the top nine Test nations would play four series at home and four away over a two-year period, with the league table leading into a final that would decide the outright Test champions. While countries would only meet once in the league – either home or away – the fixtures would then be reversed next time around.

In addition, Test status would also be granted to two new teams – most likely Ireland and Afghanistan – who with Zimbabwe (ranked 10th), would not feature in the league system at first but still be guaranteed fixtures between themselves and against the top teams.

Should these three nations prove their strength over time, the Test championship could then be either expanded or feature new teams.

With the existing tours programme running until the end of the English summer in 2019, the first edition of the Test championship could begin that winter with the final – previously tipped to be held at Lord’s initially – staged in 2021.

Decision time for cricket as ICC make plans for future of the game Read more

As well as the plan for Test cricket, and driven by the same desire among the ICC members to give greater meaning and context to bilateral cricket, is a second plan to create a 13-team league for one-day internationals that would be played over a three-year period and decide places for a World Cup staged in the fourth year.

Under this system, which would see teams play a minimum of 12 matches per year but with no upper limit, the top seven teams would go into the World Cup outright alongside the hosts, with the remainder entering a qualifying competition that includes more associate nations and would have two teams going through.

Providing a similar structure for Twenty20 international cricket is also being looked into, however plans are less developed at this stage. One possibility is a regional qualifying competition that leads into the World Twenty20, for which there is also desire to return the tournament to a two-year cycle but not before the next edition in Australia in 2020.

While the ICC board could in theory discuss the proposals for Test and one-day cricket this weekend, they are more likely to be discussed at the next meetings in April. The agenda over the next two days is instead expected to be dominated by the continued rollback of the Big Three model that was introduced in 2014 and saw India, Australia and England allocate themselves an increased proportion of revenues from global events.