Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has backed expanding the World Test Championship from nine to 12 teams, arguing that every Test-playing nation should have an opportunity to compete in the championship. But the proposal appears far from settled. While Greenberg suggested in Durban that a larger competition could become reality, cricket administrators familiar with the discussions say there is currently little support for such a major restructuring. Financial pressures facing smaller cricket boards are emerging as the biggest obstacle.

The proposed model would bring Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe into a championship currently contested by Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

WTC Expansion: Why a 12-Team Championship Is Proving Difficult

The attraction of a 12-team WTC is straightforward: every ICC Full Member that plays Test cricket would have a place in the competition. Since the championship began in 2019, only nine teams have participated. Each side currently plays six series during a two-year cycle — three at home and three away — before the top two qualify for the final. Greenberg believes widening the competition could make the championship more inclusive.

Reports citing his comments say the possible new system could also permit one-off Tests to count towards championship standings, making participation more practical for Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, which do not regularly play long multi-match Test series. The difficulty is that adding teams does not solve the economics of staging Test cricket. For several boards, it could make those problems more obvious.

What Todd Greenberg Actually Said

Speaking ahead of Australia's Test series in South Africa, Todd Greenberg expressed confidence that the championship could eventually include all 12 Test-playing nations. He said he could understand the logic of a 12-team structure because administrators wanted to give every Test nation an opportunity. At the same time, his wider comments were much less optimistic about Test cricket's financial future. Greenberg warned that some boards may eventually be unable to maintain their current Test schedules because developing red-ball players and staging international cricket require significant investment.

He also questioned the traditional system in which countries are expected to host each other on a reciprocal basis. For commercially weaker boards, hosting a Test series can cost more than the broadcasting and sponsorship revenue it generates. That creates an unusual contradiction: expanding the championship may be desirable from a sporting perspective while becoming increasingly difficult financially.

Why Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan Are Outside the Current Championship

All three countries have Test status but do not participate in the current championship. One reason is scheduling. The existing World Test Championship requires participating teams to contest six series during each cycle. Series traditionally contain at least two Tests, although the number of matches varies considerably between countries. Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland generally play fewer Tests and frequently have shorter red-ball schedules.

Allowing one-off matches to carry championship points could make their inclusion easier. But it would introduce another question: how should a one-Test series be weighted against a three-, four- or five-match contest? The championship already uses percentage of points available rather than raw points to address unequal numbers of matches. Adding single-Test series would make that balancing act even more important.

South Africa Test Cricket Shows the Contradiction

Few examples demonstrate the problem better than South Africa Test cricket. South Africa are the reigning world champions after defeating Australia in the 2025 final at Lord's. They are also currently second in the 2025-27 championship table, behind Australia, with a points percentage of 75 before the new Australia series. On sporting merit, South Africa remain among the strongest Test sides in the world. Commercially, however, the picture is more complicated.

Greenberg described South Africa as a strong Test-playing country despite its financial challenges and said Cricket Australia would like to stage a five-Test series against them. Scheduling and commercial realities make such an arrangement difficult because both countries need to protect their own domestic summer windows. This makes South Africa Test cricket an important case study: even being world champions does not automatically make every bilateral Test series commercially easy to sustain.

Australia Wants More Tests Against South Africa

Greenberg has separately pushed for longer Australia-South Africa series. Australia are playing three Tests in South Africa this month, beginning at Kingsmead in Durban on October 9. It is Australia's first Test tour of the country since the controversial 2018 series. The Cricket Australia CEO said his board would like a five-Test series against South Africa.

The problem is the calendar. Australia's home season is centred on December and January. South Africa also needs those months for its most commercially valuable home cricket.

Neither board wants to sacrifice its prime domestic window. That scheduling conflict highlights why increasing the number of participating teams does not automatically create more space for Test cricket.

India, England and Australia Remain Commercially Different

The global Test schedule increasingly reflects commercial demand. India, England and Australia regularly play four- or five-Test series against one another because those contests generate significant broadcast, sponsorship and ticketing revenue. Other combinations are more commonly limited to two or three Tests. The next international calendar is expected to preserve many of those commercially valuable series.

That leaves administrators facing an uncomfortable question: should every country be expected to host approximately the same amount of Test cricket when the economics differ so dramatically? Greenberg has suggested the answer may eventually be no. Some countries, he said, may need to play more Test matches away from home if hosting them domestically becomes financially unsustainable.

Expansion Alone Will Not Save Test Cricket

The debate ultimately goes beyond whether the table contains nine teams or 12. The real problem is whether boards can afford to maintain the domestic structures required to produce Test cricketers while also financing international matches. That includes first-class competitions, coaching, facilities, contracts and pathways for players who could often earn more from short-format leagues.

Greenberg's warning is therefore significant. A larger WTC could give more countries competitive context, but it cannot by itself guarantee that those countries have enough money to sustain red-ball cricket. A country being admitted to the championship also does not create an audience, broadcasting agreement or financially viable home calendar automatically.

What Happens Next?

The Future Tours Programme discussions will be the next important stage. Member boards are working on schedules covering the latter part of the decade, while the ICC is expected to consider major calendar issues at upcoming meetings. Any proposal to expand the championship would need formal support within that governance process.

Until then, the idea remains exactly that: a proposal. The debate also arrives at an interesting moment for South Africa Test cricket, with the reigning champions beginning a marquee home series against Australia that administrators hope will demonstrate the enduring value of high-quality long-form cricket.

For supporters of expansion, a 12-team championship offers a simple principle — every Test nation should have something meaningful to play for. For sceptics, the financial question comes first. Unless cricket finds a way to make Test matches sustainable for boards outside its richest markets, increasing participation could give more nations a place in the competition without solving the underlying reason they struggle to play enough Tests in the first place.