According to the Melbourne Age, the chairs of Australia, England and India, plus Jay Shah, the new head of the International Cricket Council, are due to meet this month to discuss splitting the 12 Test nations into two divisions, allowing the "Big Three" countries to play their hugely lucrative series more often.
It follows a bumper Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India that saw the hosts prevail 3-1 amid huge crowds. It was Australia's fourth-best attended series - the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne drew a record 373,691 spectators over its five days - and was reportedly the most-watched Test series ever played in the country. The arrival of England's Bazballers for the Ashes next winter could well challenge those numbers.
As it stands, the nine-team, two-year World Test Championship is baked into the schedule until mid-2027, with the future tours programme for the period that follows still to be drawn up by the ICC and its full member boards. Were the number of teams in the top flight to be cut to seven from 2027 onwards - as per a previous proposal in 2016 - it could see the Ashes and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played every 18 months.
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