ICC FTP 2027-31 Cycle Leak Rumour May 2026: BCCI Position

A draft of the next ICC Future Tours Programme cycle — 2027 to 2031 — has reportedly leaked into cricket press in early May 2026, and the chatter has not stopped since. Editors in Mumbai, London, and Karachi have all run versions of the same skeleton. The BCCI has issued a measured public position. The ICC has neither confirmed nor denied. What we have is a fog of partial documents, off-record briefings, and the usual board-room politics that surrounds every FTP refresh.

This piece unpacks what is actually known, what is speculation, and where the BCCI's position sits on the disputed Test allocations.

FTP Primer And The 2023-27 Cycle Context

The ICC Future Tours Programme is a four-year skeleton that maps out bilateral series between full members. It is not a binding contract in the strict legal sense, but it is the planning grid that broadcasters, host boards, and player contracts hang off. The current 2023-27 cycle was finalised in mid-2022 and front-loaded India series, ringfenced the IPL window, and gave the West Indies and Sri Lanka fewer marquee Test commitments than they wanted.

That last point — the smaller-board Test gap — is the friction point now feeding into the 2027-31 leak.

What The Leaked Draft Reportedly Contains

Read the published summaries carefully and the leaked draft is conservative, not radical. The skeleton reportedly includes an India home Test calendar that is broadly similar to 2023-27, an Ashes 2027-28 and 2031-32 anchored to the southern summer, an India tour of England in 2029, and an India tour of Australia in 2030-31. South Africa and New Zealand reportedly retain their five-Test winters with India and England.

What the draft is said to trim is the so-called middle layer — West Indies and Sri Lanka Test inbounds against the big three are reportedly compressed into shorter two-Test series with more white-ball padding around them.

The BCCI Position

The BCCI's public line, repeated by board officials in Mumbai through May, is that no FTP draft is final until ratified by the chief executives committee and that the IPL window from late March through end of May must be protected. That is the non-negotiable.

Beyond the window, the board's stated preference is for fewer but longer marquee series, which lines up with the Ashes-style five-Test format India has now hosted twice against England and once against Australia inside the current cycle. The BCCI position on West Indies and Sri Lanka allocations has been more diplomatic — it has not publicly endorsed the trim, but it has not pushed back against it either.

The ICC Official Position

The ICC's response has been a one-line acknowledgment that the FTP for 2027-31 is in active consultation with members and that no document in circulation should be treated as final. That is standard governance language and it neither confirms nor denies the contents of the leaked draft.

Behind the scenes, the chief executives committee is reportedly meeting through June 2026 to work through the friction points. The expectation in cricket-press circles is a finalised cycle by the ICC annual conference window in mid-2026.

Key Disputes — West Indies And Sri Lanka

The two boards with the loudest off-record complaints about the leaked draft are Cricket West Indies and Sri Lanka Cricket. Both have argued for years that they need more marquee Test inbounds — particularly India home series — to keep their domestic broadcast deals viable.

The compromise being floated is a hybrid — shorter Test legs (two matches instead of three) but bundled with full white-ball tours and a guaranteed share of the broadcast revenue pool from the inbound. It is not what either board wanted, but it is reportedly what is on the table.

What This Means For Fans

For Indian fans the practical takeaway is that the IPL window is safe, the marquee inbound and outbound Test calendar against England and Australia is broadly intact, and the smaller fixtures will likely shrink. For West Indies and Sri Lanka fans, the leaked draft — if accurate — is a step backwards on Test exposure.

For more on the India-Pakistan scheduling axis that sits inside this cycle, see our deep dive on the India Pakistan fixture politics 2026 Asia Cup neutral venue row. The PCB's position on hosting the Champions Trophy 2027 Pakistan host fixtures rumours BCCI position feeds directly into how the FTP cycle gets ratified. And for the wider events landscape that the FTP wraps around, the ICC events calendar 2026-2031 full roadmap mens womens U19 is the companion read.

The Bottom Line

A leaked FTP draft is not a final FTP. The 2027-31 cycle is still being negotiated, the BCCI position is consistent with its 2023-27 stance, and the friction points — West Indies and Sri Lanka Test allocations — are real but not yet resolved. Expect the final cycle to land before the ICC annual conference in mid-2026. Until then, treat every leaked skeleton as a snapshot, not the ship.