International Cricket

ICC AGM May 2026: Two-Tier Test Cricket Vote Outcome Decoded

Anjali Iyer 19 May 2026 Updated 19 May 2026 ~5 min read ~844 words

ICC headquarters in Dubai with member-board flags during the annual general meeting

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The ICC Annual General Meeting in Dubai on May 15-16 ran six hours longer than scheduled on the second day, and the reason was the two-tier Test cricket proposal. The proposal, brought by Cricket Australia in coordination with the ECB, sought to formalise a top-seven Test playing group with a separate development tier for the remaining five Test-playing nations. The vote, according to people familiar with the closed-door process, fell narrowly short of the required majority. The closer-than-expected margin sets up a likely return of the proposal in 2027, in a modified form, and a series of bilateral conversations that are reportedly already underway.

The proposal, the bloc dynamics

The two-tier proposal would have created a Tier 1 of seven nations (Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sri Lanka) playing the Test World Test Championship cycle, with a Tier 2 of Bangladesh, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan playing a parallel development championship and a promotion-relegation playoff at the end of the cycle. The argument from the proposers, broadly: a thicker top-tier broadcast deal, more genuine cricket for the seven-strong group, and a credible development pathway for the bottom five. The argument against: a 19-year-old Bangladesh fan watching an Australia tour is the next 19-year-old generation, and removing those fixtures kills the future audience. The vote breakdown, as understood from the room, saw India, Australia, England, and South Africa back the proposal. Pakistan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka split. The remaining five Tier-1 voting members and the associate representatives broadly voted against.

The FTP implications, the immediate read

The vote outcome means the 2027-2031 Future Tours Programme will be negotiated under the existing framework. That has practical implications. Bangladesh's home series against India in November 2027 stays in the calendar. The West Indies five-Test slot in the next cycle is reportedly being protected by a Cricket West Indies-BCCI bilateral commitment that pre-dates the AGM. The Test calendar for Zimbabwe in 2028 includes a tour to Pakistan and a home series against Ireland, both of which would have been at risk under a two-tier framework. The longer-term question is whether the proposers return with a modified version in 2027. Cricket Australia chair has been on record as saying the conversation will continue, and the ECB has indicated the same.

The associates' reaction

The associate-level reaction is harder to read because the associates do not have a Test vote. The position from the World Cricketers' Association has been that two-tier without a promotion-relegation pathway from the associate level is a closed-shop solution that hurts the next generation of cricket nations. The USA, Nepal, and the Netherlands have all signalled in submissions to the ICC that they want a genuine Test pathway. The 2027 AGM is the next obvious window for that conversation, alongside the broader chair-election process.

What the proposer-side does next

The reported strategy from the Cricket Australia and ECB side is bilateral negotiation. The argument is that broadcasters in Australia and England are valuing the top-seven product at materially higher rates than the wider calendar, and that the revenue case will eventually win the room. The counter-argument from the BCCI side has reportedly shifted in recent months: the BCCI's own broadcast tender, which goes to market in the next 18 months, is highly dependent on a guaranteed Pakistan-India Test series and an India tour to Bangladesh in the cycle. A two-tier outcome that disrupts those fixtures hurts the BCCI tender too. That alignment of interest is the reason the vote was closer than the proposers expected.

What it means

The two-tier Test cricket proposal is not dead, but it is paused. The 2027 ICC AGM is the next genuine window for a revised version, and the proposer-side will need to address the future-audience argument credibly. For Bangladesh, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan, the May 2026 outcome means the next cycle is largely intact. The longer-term question is whether the broadcast economics force a different conversation in the 2031-onwards window. Watch the BCCI broadcast tender outcome and the 2027 chair election. Both will shape what the room looks like the next time the proposal returns.