Originally Posted by chrisr21:
“There's a good piece on how it would work in this months The Cricketer Magazine I think. I'll dig it out later and post about it.”
7 countries in Division 1, 5 countries in Division 2
Division 1
Each of the 7 teams plays 3 series at home, 3 series away every 2 years
1 relegated after 2 years to division 2
Division 2
Each of the 5 teams plays 2 series at home, 2 series away every 2 years
1 relegation after 2 years to the Intercontinental Cup
All of that deliberately lasts about 5 months in total. It leaves room for countries to schedule extra games/series that don't count to the points in the divisions (so The Ashes can be 5 Tests, only 3 carry points that count in the championship).
Further plans for 2 groups of 6 in ODI's.
The article makes the point that people are more likely to watch a game with meaning than the usual series.
Case in point; during the initial round of the World T20, Ireland played Oman. At the same time, South Africa where playing Australia. Both games were live on Sky Sports simultaneously on 2 channels.
The game with context rated higher.
It is estimated that the chance of 2 divisions being introduced into Test Cricket stand at 50/50.