How Test Series Are Scheduled: Bilateral Arrangements and Tour Cycles
Test series between two countries are scheduled through bilateral agreements and the ICC Future Tours Programme. This article explains how the FTP works, how series lengths are determined, and what happens when tours are cancelled or rescheduled.
The ICC Future Tours Programme
The ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) is the central scheduling framework for all international cricket: the FTP covers an approximately 4-8 year period and specifies which teams play each other, when, where, and in which format; Test series, ODI series, and T20I series are all planned within the FTP framework; the FTP is negotiated between national boards and the ICC — the 'Big Three' (England, Australia, and India) historically have significant influence over their own scheduling within the FTP due to their commercial importance; and the FTP is regularly revised (each revision cycle typically extends 2-4 years beyond the existing schedule) — it is a living document rather than a fixed timetable. The FTP's specific purpose is to guarantee all Full Member nations a minimum number of home and away series across each cycle — preventing situations where weaker nations go without Test cricket for extended periods.
How Series Length Is Determined
The length of a Test series (number of matches) is determined by several factors: the commercial attractiveness of the matchup (England vs Australia = 5 Tests per Ashes series; England vs Zimbabwe = 1-2 Tests per series); the available slots in the calendar (some countries' domestic seasons limit the window available for international Tests); and reciprocity agreements (if England plays 5 Tests in Australia, Australia plays 5 Tests in England in the next cycle — the series length is often matched reciprocally). Full five-Test series are increasingly rare — the ICC calendar pressure from white-ball cricket has compressed many traditional multi-Test series to 2-3 Tests. The Ashes (England vs Australia) remains the most prominent exception — both boards have resisted reducing the Ashes to fewer than 5 Tests per series.
Tour Cancellations and Rescheduling
Test tours are occasionally cancelled or rescheduled for specific reasons: political tensions between countries (Pakistan vs India tours have been suspended for extended periods due to political relations between the two countries — they have not played a bilateral series since 2008); security concerns (England's 2021 tour to Pakistan was cancelled at short notice due to security assessments — the ECB's duty-of-care position prioritised player safety over the tour's commercial significance); natural disasters or health emergencies (COVID-19 disrupted virtually every international cricket tour between March 2020 and late 2021 — the ICC revised the FTP significantly to accommodate lost series); and bilateral disputes (disagreements between boards over financial arrangements, player availability, or scheduling can produce tour cancellations). Cancelled tours create FTP 'holes' that affect WTC points calculations — the ICC provides specific provisions for series cancelled due to force majeure.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum number of Tests a Full Member must play per FTP cycle?
The ICC FTP specifies minimum bilateral series requirements for Full Members but the minimum number of Tests per cycle varies: the largest nations (England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa) typically play 15-20 Tests per home FTP cycle plus similar numbers away; smaller nations (Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and associate Full Members) may play significantly fewer — sometimes 4-8 Tests per cycle; and the WTC's points system specifically accommodates different volumes of Tests played — the percentage-based system means a team that plays 8 Tests and wins all 8 can score the same WTC percentage as a team that plays 16 Tests and wins all 16. The FTP minimum guarantees are subject to board negotiations and can be revised — there is no internationally fixed minimum that all boards must honour regardless of commercial conditions.
How does the FTP handle home and away balance?
The FTP attempts to balance home and away series for all nations: each bilateral pair is scheduled for reciprocal series (if A plays at home to B in cycle 1, B plays at home to A in cycle 2 — roughly alternating home/away advantage); the home team has specific advantages (pitch preparation, home crowd, familiar conditions) — consistent home-only play would permanently advantage some teams; and the FTP's reciprocity principle means that a team's home schedule is roughly mirrored by their away schedule across cycles. In practice, some nations' home series are more commercially valuable (making bilateral partners eager to schedule home series against them) and some nations' away series are less commercially attractive (making bilateral partners less eager to tour there) — the FTP manages but doesn't eliminate this commercial asymmetry.
Can fans find the FTP schedule publicly?
Yes — the ICC publishes the Future Tours Programme on its official website and updates it when revisions are agreed: the FTP document specifies series dates, formats, and venues for the scheduled period; national board websites (ECB, Cricket Australia, BCCI, etc.) also publish their own schedule pages that reflect the FTP for their teams specifically; and the ICC's official website provides the most authoritative public record of the FTP's current state. However, the FTP document represents planned series — confirmed series (with specific venue and date announcements) are published separately by the host board closer to the tour. The FTP gives fans multi-year visibility of when series will happen; specific venues and exact dates are confirmed closer to the series.