Exclusive: Support remains as 12-team WTC and Olympic qualification proposals set to be endorsed

An expanded 12-team World Test Championship (WTC) and the Olympic qualification proposals may be endorsed this month with the International Cricket Council board potentially reconvening in person for its rescheduled meetings.

The ICC’s first quarterly meetings of 2026 were supposed to finalise a couple of big ticket issues that would have major ramifications for the sport.

But with the Iran war raging, the ICC board and Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) meetings slated for March 25-27 in Doha were postponed. In its place were online meetings, but according to sources, they were mostly informal and did not touch on the pressing items that dominated discussions late last year.

As I first reported at the time, plans are afoot for an expanded 12-team WTC in one division after contentious plans to split nations into two tiers failed to gain widespread support.

Cricket Financial Journal understands there remains widespread support for the proposal, which would see Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland added to the current nine-team league for the next cycle starting in July 2027.

It is believed that the CEC has given approval, although there is still uncertainty over the sentiments of a couple of the more influential cricket countries.

Countries for some time have been discussing bilateral fixtures for the next Future Tours Programme (FTP). Teams will be expected to play a minimum number of Tests during the next WTC cycle, with one-off Tests likely to be added in a bid to incentivise bigger nations to play smaller countries.

A prime example is the push from Zimbabwe to entice nations to make a stopover when they tour neighbouring South Africa, with Australia doing so later this year albeit only for an ODI series.

A working group led by former New Zealand batter Roger Twose had provided the recommendations after many smaller Full Member nations opposed a two-tier system, which has been a thorny topic for a long time.

While discussions over that issue are still set to be thrashed out at the next board meeting, the qualification process for the six-team men’s and women’s competitions at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has all but been agreed upon.

As I first reported last year, the cricket competitions will comprise the top team in the regional rankings - Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa - along with host nation United States, who would represent the Americas.

The final spot will be determined by a single global qualifier likely to be held in 2027 and feature the highest ranked eight teams who did not automatically qualify. Specific details will be shared at the next meetings.

Initially, the upcoming T20 World Cup was to determine the women’s Olympic spots but is now set to follow the same criteria as the men. The United States - ranked 16th in the men’s and 24th in women’s in T20Is - are likely to gain automatic spots amid debate over whether their women’s team would be competitive enough.

These decisions are hoped to be made before July’s annual conference in Edinburgh - a return to the Scotland capital after a decade. Final decisions are rarely made at AGMs, where the bigwigs from all over the cricket world rub shoulders but the whole thing feels more like a networking opportunity than where hard calls on weighty matters are made.

The Middle East conflict has caused logistical headaches with key ICC staff based in Dubai. In-person ICC board meetings are hoped to be rescheduled for later this month, with Bangkok touted as a potential location.