The International Cricket Council (ICC) will soon be approving the plans for its long-awaited World Test Championship at a meeting in New Zealand this week.

Since years, ICC has been trying to conduct Test championship as it will help to boost the interest of fans towards the longest format of the game.

As per the reports of the Sydney Morning Herald, the plans for a nine-nation Test championship will soon be discussed and the ICC is all set to give a green light on Friday at a meeting in Auckland.

The reports also suggested that the first edition of the competition would run over a two-year cycle beginning in 2019, culminating in a final between the top two teams at Lord’s.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said, “You’re also creating structure in such a way that you no longer have games without meaning. They are all part of a league championship.”

Despite the fact that the cricketing pundits have always considered Test cricket as the pinnacle of the sport but it has struggled, particularly in Asia, as profitable T20 tournaments like the Indian Premier League have raised the expectations of the crowd.

A recent innovation of day-night Test was designed to move playing sessions to more spectator-friendly hours, but it wasn’t sufficient to gain the popularity of the format. The concept of four-day Test matches has also been floated, although most of the experts oppose the move.

In Auckland meeting, ICC will also be looking to make some major changes in the upcoming ODI fixtures as well. Under the plans, the number of ODIs in a series would be limited to three, ending the lengthy five-match series that are currently part of the international fixture list.