Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg expects the World Test Championship to grow from nine teams to 12 in its next cycle. Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan would join for the first time since the competition began in 2019.
“I think that’s what will happen for the next two years.”
Todd Greenberg, speaking to reporters in Durban before Australia’s first Test against South Africa, 7 October 2026
Under the plan, one-off Tests would count for WTC points. A final decision is expected at the ICC meetings in Bali in November.
In the same remarks, Greenberg said the long-term future of Test cricket involves fewer teams, not more. Some members may stop playing Tests, or play more away than at home just to keep the format alive.
He said the reciprocal home-and-away model could be pushing some boards toward financial ruin. He is not the only voice worried about the format: Ajinkya Rahane has also warned about Test cricket’s survival.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg says a 12-team World Test Championship is nearing reality, but he believes the long-term future of the format will see fewer teams involved
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— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) October 7, 2026
Most people read “expensive” as the cost of hosting a Test. Greenberg meant something else, and it is the part of Test cricket no scoreboard shows.
Greenberg said the cost is not staging matches. It is funding a red-ball system deep enough to produce a Test XI year after year. He first made the case in August 2025, when he said forcing nations to play Tests could send them bankrupt. He admitted the view was unpopular but called it a fact. It sits inside the wider debate on Test cricket and franchise leagues.
Insider Read
A Test player is built in four-day cricket, not in Tests. Domestic first-class games teach you to bat through a session, bowl a long spell on a flat day and come back when the ball goes soft. Without that volume, a player learns Test cricket in front of the best bowlers in the world.
That is the gap for Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan, who mostly play one-off or two-Test series. A one-off Test gives a side no second match to fix what went wrong. A WTC place adds fixtures. It cannot add the years of red-ball cricket a Test XI needs underneath it.
How the WTC Changes From 9 to 12 Teams
| Current WTC | Proposed WTC | |
|---|---|---|
| Teams | 9 | 12 |
| Minimum Tests per series | 2 | One-off Tests count |
| Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan | Not included | Included |
The 12-team plan replaced an earlier idea. In November 2025, a two-division WTC from an ICC working group led by Roger Twose failed after Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh resisted it. In April 2026, the same group said it would recommend 12 teams with one-off Tests counting.
The ICC board must still decide two things: whether one-off Tests belong in the WTC, and whether the three new teams can afford two extra years of Test cricket.
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