[al Furqaan]

basically your proposal is creating a 4-day long ODI...

but i do agree with some of your other proposals. i do not support relegation/promotion at Test level, only promotion. no sport has members being relegated promoted in the proper league. its OK for associates seeking ODI status, and even then i disagree.

This is my idea:

Have 12 Test teams:

India
South Africa
Australia
England
Pakistan
West Indies
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Ireland
Zimbabwe
12th ranked team (2nd ranked associate from ICC intercontinental Cup)

The FTP should be edited to create a 2-year cycle which culminates in the crowning of a Test champion. The ICC can also retain the current Test rankings tables, but the Test champion wouldn't necessarily be the team ranked # 1.

So the 12 Test teams should play each other, home and away series, in each 2 year cycle. They can be divided into 2 groups of 6 teams or 4 groups of 3 teams even. In the 6-team format, each team would play the other 5 teams in 2 seperate series, home and away. Thats 5 series/year which is a reasonable amount, not too much, not too little.

Each series should be a minimum of 3 Tests. The Ashes can still be retained as 5 Tests, to keep BCCI appeased, India can play 4 Test series with England/Australia/South Africa and so can the other "icon" series.

To keep the standings fair then, the only thing that should count are either points, or number of series wins.

Now the two 6 team divisions should be split the following way each cycle to ensure a healthy variation.

Division A

# 1 ranked team
# 12 ranked team
# 6 ranked team
# 7 ranked team
# 4 ranked team
# 9 ranked team

Division B

# 2 ranked team
# 3 ranked team
# 5 ranked team
# 8 ranked team
# 10 ranked team
# 11 ranked team

After the cycle is complete, each team will have played 10 complete series (though not necessarily the same number of matches due to "icon" series and wash-outs). The standings can either be decided on the basis of series win/loss/draw ratio or a scoring system.

A possible scoring system could be, 10* [(runs scored/wickets lost)/(runs conceded/wickets taken)] and used on a match-by-match basis. This ensures that even dead rubbers and drawn tests retain some value.

At the end of the cycle, there can be a play-off series, where the top 4 teams from each division enter the play offs as a single Super Eight division. Each team will play the other 4 teams in the opposite division, 2 series at home and 2 away. Again, a points system can accurately negate dead rubbers and drawn series. At the end, the top 2 teams enter a Final Test series, where the winner of series (by points in case of a drawn series) is crowned as Champion for the next 2 years. There can also be a 3rd place play-off series before hand.