Four-team WTC finals and a more equitable revenue distribution model are among the changes suggested in a major report published by the World Cricketers’ Association to improve the overall functioning of cricket globally.
Titled 'Protecting History, Embracing Change: A Unified, Coherent, Global Future,' the WCA report incorporates six months of input from 64 cricket stakeholders – including players like Jos Buttler, Heather Knight and Pat Cummins, administrators, media partners, and industry experts.
WCA have noted that with the mushrooming of franchise T20 competitions, international cricket has taken a backseat, "putting the future of the international game at risk".
A two-tier WTC
As solutions, they have put forward four short windows specifically allotted to international cricket every year, with the rest of the calendar filled with T20 leagues. According to their proposed solutions, any longer international series outside the mentioned windows will be played head-to-head with the franchise competitions.
After earning a Test call-up last November, a last-minute injury cruelly delayed Jordan Cox's international dreams.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 26, 2025
He speaks to @Katya_Wisden about the heartbreak it caused and his journey to reclaiming a spot in the England squad.
Read more: https://t.co/fGozb1yebZ pic.twitter.com/mYVJ1BWc2v
The report also proposes restructuring international cricket's three formats with a promotion-relegation system operating on a two-year cycle. Under this model, teams would need to qualify for major tournaments – including the T20 and ODI World Cups, other limited-overs events, and the World Test Championship.
To preserve the relevance of Test cricket, a two-tier World Test Championship is proposed. While the top eight teams will play in Division 1, the bottom four will compete in Division 2. The top four from Division 1 will qualify for the finals, with a play-off match between Division 1 wooden-spooner and Division 2 leader to decide promotion or relegation for the next cycle.
Demands a fairer revenue sharing model
The report highlights that the "over-reliance on a limited number of markets and relative lack of investment in others" is plaguing the game. It noted that the big three – India, England and Australia – share 83 percent of the global revenue.
It further notes that the IPL – operated by the BCCI – constitutes nearly half of the sport’s economy but shares only 0.3 per cent of its revenue with other boards and less than 10 per cent with players. To rectify this imbalance, the report proposes capping revenue shares for the top 24 nations, with a floor of two per cent and a ceiling of 10 per cent for each country. This means BCCI's current share will be cut from 38.5 percent to a maximum of 10 percent.
It claims that the suggested change would lead to the growth of the global game, ensuring the "survival of international cricket" and increasing the overall revenue to 240 million USD.
Change of global regulatory framework and regulations
The report claims that cricket’s current global regulations by the ICC aren’t in line with the evolving nature of the sport, leaving players, leagues and franchises unprotected.
"In short, no one is actually in charge of the sport as a genuine custodian of the global game as a whole," it explained. It noted that the sport is run by the most powerful boards with negligible representation from leagues, franchises, players or women. To address that, the WCA has called for a Global Game Leadership Committee to be set up which will make its recommendations to the ICC board.
It says that the current frameworks under ICC give primary importance to international cricket over T20 leagues and that doesn't fit the purpose of the transnational reality of the game. Calling it obsolete, WCA criticised ICC's restrictive league sanctioning policies.
