Australia are one of only three teams to win the World Test Championship, along with New Zealand and South Africa.

The International Cricket Council held its annual conference in Edinburgh last week. A number of important issues surrounding the future of international cricket were discussed - both informally and formally - in meetings involving some of the game's most influential decision makers.

With the ICC set for talks with broadcasters over new deals, the governing body is keen to consider how best to position the various formats to ensure they can maximise their value. BBC Sport spoke to several sources to find out about some of the ideas proposed.

There looks set to be a shake-up to the structure of men's World Cups in both formats. A proposal is on the table to reduce the 50-over World Cup from 14 teams to 12 along with the addition of a 'super seven' stage. This could even be in place for the 2027 edition, which is being co-hosted by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. To achieve it, the ICC is likely to only allow two teams to progress from a global qualifying tournament rather than four as originally planned.

A tweak to the T20 World Cup is also said to be under review, with the 'super eight' stage increasing to a 'super 10' phase. All of the above could lead to an increase in the one fixture the ICC wants to see more of: India versus Pakistan. The two sides do not play each other outside major tournaments but it is seen as the most marketable fixture for television.

Elsewhere, England, India and Australia have their key fixtures for the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2027 to 2031 locked in alongside global tournaments, but the rest of the full members are yet to sort out their schedules. There is a meeting pencilled in for August when they will attempt to thrash out the remainder of the calendar before a final review in September.

Additionally, it seems highly likely the number of white-ball bilateral series played by teams will decrease after the next FTP cycle. In their place will be a series of mini inter-continental quadrangular tournaments, likely to be with two teams from each full member region.

There has been no formal progress on the possible expansion of the World Test Championship to 12 teams. An ICC working group, headed by Roger Twose, a New Zealand board member, is still working through plans to expand the tournament to include Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. As a result, no concrete proposals have been presented for approval and it now looks extremely unlikely they will be incorporated as part of the next FTP cycle.

One interesting subject which gained some traction in meetings was the possibility of adding semi-finals to the WTC in order to stimulate more interest. There is a feeling that a greater sense of jeopardy, and giving teams in the middle of the table more to play for, would help generate more interest in a tournament for the longer format.

There had been reports in the build up to the ICC conference of plans to reduce the length of one-day internationals from 50 overs to 40 overs. It is understood there are ongoing ICC discussions on how to keep the ODI format relevant but a change is not imminent. Additionally, there are no plans to revive the ODI World Cup Super League, which ran from 2020 until 2023. The Super League was used as a qualification structure for the 50-over World Cup and was of particular benefit for associate members who had mandatory scheduled fixtures against full members. It was scrapped for the 2027 qualifying cycle and will not return.

The ICC has, however, strongly encouraged full members to schedule more matches between their 'A' sides and associate members in both white-ball formats to help grow the game.

A tournament which brings the top teams from the globe's domestic T20 franchise leagues together is edging closer. One source said the event could be launched in the next couple of years provided a gap in the calendar can be found. A global gathering of franchise executives is scheduled to take place later this year, which could yield further progress. In much the same way as football's governing body Fifa runs the Club World Cup, the ICC sees it as an opportunity to grab its slice of the franchise pie.

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