The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday (August 17) released the men’s Future Tours Program (FTP) 2023-27, ensuring the international calendar for all full members in all three formats of the game. In total, the 2023-2027 FTP cycle will see 777 international matches – 173 Tests, 281 ODIs, and 323 T20Is – up from 694 in the current one. Team India will play 27 ODI matches before the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
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.
Australian former great cricketer Ricky Ponting used the latest episode of The ICC Review to praise the decision to make the Border-Gavaskar Trophy battle a five-match 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 really enjoy that as well,” Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“The thing about 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 really like and what the fans would love to watch.”
Like the current WTC cycle, the Ashes, as well as the England-India Test series, will be contested in five matches during the upcoming FTP.
England, Australia, and India will play the most Test matches during the cycle as they are scheduled to play 22, 21, and 20 five-day matches respectively. The upcoming FTP cycle also features five major ICC events, starting with next year’s Cricket World Cup in India. The West Indies and the USA will host the T20 World Cup in 2024, followed by the return of the Champions Trophy in 2025, hosted by Pakistan.
India and Sri Lanka will co-host the T20 World Cup in 2026 and the FTP cycle will conclude with the Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in 2027. Bilateral and white-ball tri-series will have high stakes. they will count towards the respective team’s ranking, which in turn will help decide which teams qualify for ICC events.