Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has welcomed the new changes in cricketing structure by International Cricket Council (ICC), who approved both Test Championship and ODI League system after their meeting in Auckland.

The Test Championship will feature nine Test teams (excluding Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan), who have to play six Test series against other teams, three each at home and away. Those series have to contain at least two matches. This will come into effect after World Cup 2019 in England.

Akram Khan, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said in Mirpur on Saturday “It is definitely a good move and we welcome it. It will certainly benefit us because if we play Tests against eight teams it gives us a good opportunity to showcase our potential.”

He further said “There will be no problem that presently exists when big teams play against smaller teams. They want to play lesser Tests and focus on more ODIs. In that sense, it is better for us because when we played against big teams, we had to face a lot of problems trying to fulfill their demands. They had several requirements that we had to fill while it will not be the same case now.”

The One-Day International League, too, will be played post World Cup 2019, where 13 teams will be part of it – 12 full members with the winners of ICC World Cricket League Championship. Each team will have to play eight series – four at home and four away – across two year’s cycle. This league will have an effect on the direct qualification of next world cup.