Former ICC Chief Financial Officer, Zimbabwe Cricket Managing Director, and Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Officer Faisal Hasnain has raised fresh concerns about the effectiveness of cricket’s global development efforts, arguing that the game’s premier format remains far too exclusive more than a century after international cricket began.
Speaking on his Cricket Capital platform, Hasnain said the limited number of Test-playing nations should prompt a serious reassessment of cricket’s long-term development strategy.
“After more than 150 years of international cricket, we still have only 12 Test-playing nations (Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe) and some may not even deserve to be there.”
Using the example of a possible restructuring of West Indies cricket, Hasnain suggested that the international game could benefit significantly from a larger pool of competitive teams.
“Imagine adding four, five, or even six new truly competitive teams to international cricket.”
According to Hasnain, a broader Test landscape would create far more opportunities for players and strengthen national cricket systems. “Instead of just 11 West Indies players representing the entire region, we could eventually have 60 or 70 players representing their own countries at the highest level.”
He also argued that expanding the number of elite teams would encourage greater accountability and self-sufficiency among cricket administrations. “These countries would take greater responsibility for developing and financing their own cricket, reducing the burden on a single regional administration.”
Hasnain’s comments come amid his wider advocacy for expanding the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) to include all 12 Test-playing nations. In a separate statement, he welcomed the participation of Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan, saying that both Test cricket and the WTC would be “better off” with their full inclusion.
His remarks strike at the heart of a longstanding debate within the sport: can cricket’s development programmes truly be considered successful when, nearly 150 years after the first Test match, only a dozen nations have attained the game’s highest status?
While cricket has spread to more than 100 countries worldwide, Hasnain argues that the ultimate measure of development should not merely be broader participation, but the emergence of a greater number of competitive Test-playing nations capable of sustaining the highest standards of international cricket.
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