The International Cricket Council (ICC) could agree to major changes in the points system of the World Test Championships from the next cycle, while it is likely to defer the contentious proposal to segregate Test cricket into two divisions, a report said on Saturday.
The next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle begins with India touring England for a five-match series in June this year, five days after the conclusion of the final for the 2023-2025 cycle between and South Africa and Australia at Lord's.
ICC has been long contemplating a new system of bonus points based on the margin of victory "similar to that used in rugby union, while weighting points for wins based on the strength of opponents and adding extra points for winning away from home," reported news agency PTI.
The current WTC system awards the same number of points -- 12 for a win, six for a tie and four for a draw which has given rise to discontent that India, England and Australia are disadvantaged as they play more games against each other".
"South Africa's achievement in reaching this year's final led to some resentment as they did so without playing England or Australia. Series wins against West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, a draw against India and defeat in India yielded enough points for the Proteas to reach the final for the first time," PTI quoted a report as saying.
The report also said that the issue of over-rate penalties will also come up for discussion, with England's director of cricket Rob Key highlighting the severity of the WTC points on the rankings.
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The report added that the ICC could, for now, put on hold the plan to divide Test cricket into two divisions and continue with the single-league WTC format.
Cricket Australia is said to be in favour of having two divisions, which would entail Australia, England and India playing against each other twice every three years, "rather than the current model of two series in four years, and generate huge financial returns".
The other Test-playing countries have expressed their reservations to the two-tier system, arguing that it could lead to them falling even further behind the so-called Big Three.