The 12 Full Members of the ICC will play more international cricket across each of the three formats in the next Future Tours Program (FTP) cycle. The FTP outlines the international cricket calendar, including ICC events and bilateral international series.
The 12 Members will play a total of 777 international matches – 173 Tests, 281 ODIs, and 323 T20Is – in the 2023-2027 FTP cycle compared to the 694 in the current one.
This includes the next two cycles of the ICC Men’s World Test Championship, multiple ICC events, and a host of bilateral as well as tri-series action.
MEN’S FTP FOR 2023-27
ICC GM of Cricket Wasim Khan said: “I’d like to thank our Members for the effort that has gone into creating this FTP for the next four years. We are incredibly lucky to have three vibrant formats of the game, with an outstanding program of ICC global events and strong bilateral and domestic cricket, and this FTP is designed to allow all cricket to flourish.”
One of the major highlights of the FTP is the two sets of five-match Border-Gavaskar Test series in each of the upcoming cycles of the ICC World Test Championship.
A fiercely contested clash in recent times, Australia is set to welcome India for a five-match series in the 2023-25 cycle of the WTC while a reciprocal tour is set to be played in the 2025-27 cycle.
It will be the first time in over 30 years that the two sides will clash in a five-match Test series, the last time being 1992.
More matches in FTP 2023-27 across all formats than the previous cycle matches in FTP 2023-27 across all formats than the previous cycle
Australia great Ricky Ponting used the latest episode of The ICC Review to applaud the decision to make the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy a five-game series.
“I think spectators from Australia and India and probably anyone that loved the game around the world would have liked to have seen more Test matches between Australia and India, so absolutely I think it’s a fantastic initiative and more importantly, I think all the players will enjoy that as well,” Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“The thing about the Australia-India series is that the conditions we play into so are so different and so contrasting.
“When India come to Australia they get the fast, bouncy wickets that offer something for the seamers.
“And then when Australia go to India it’s pretty much the other way round with a lot of spins and a lot of reverse swing bowling.
“So that contrast in itself I think is what players like and what the fans would love to watch.”
Like the current cycle of WTC, the Ashes, as well as the England-India Test series, will be contested across five matches during the upcoming FTP.
England, Australia, and India will feature in the greatest number of Test matches during the cycle, as they are set to play 22, 21, and 20 five-day games respectively.
The upcoming cycle of the FTP also features five major ICC events, starting with the Cricket World Cup next year in India.
West Indies and the USA will host the T20 World Cup in 2024, which will be followed by the return of the Champions Trophy in 2025 to be hosted by Pakistan.
India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the T20 World Cup in 2026 and the FTP cycle will be rounded off by the Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in 2027.
The white-ball bilateral and tri-series will have high stakes as they will count towards the respective team’s rankings, which in turn will help decide which teams will qualify for ICC events.
