The International Cricket Council looks set to adopt an Australian initiative aimed at creating a fund in excess of $15 million to keep the game’s best players in Test cricket.

In a bid to combat the financial pulling power of lucrative T20 competitions such as the Indian Premier League, cricket officials in Australia, India and England have worked together to save the longest form of the game.

The fund would increase the minimum match payment for a Test for every player and also help cover the cost of sending teams on overseas tours.

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Action has been taken by the wealthier nations after ripple effects of the popularity of T20 competitions has seen the Test format suffer.

The call to action was made after South Africa named a vastly weakened squad to tour New Zealand early this year, after Cricket South Africa determined no players contracted to SA20 franchises were eligible for selection.

That sparked a furious reaction from former Aussie captain Steve Waugh at the time, who said it showed a “lack of respect” and questioned whether it was a “defining moment in the death of Test cricket”.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird said the onus was on the wealthier nations to bolster the Test game.

“It’s fantastic to see some momentum behind the Test match fund,” Baird said. “We need to take away the barriers and encourage Test cricket to be the best of the best. To retain that history and that legacy, which goes alongside the newer forms of white ball cricket.”

Indian cricket official Jay Shah, who will be formally elected ICC president next week, supports the fund.

“There should be a dedicated fund for Tests, whether it’s $5 million, $10 million or more,” Shah said in an Indian media interview this week. “It is expensive to host teams for five-day Tests, so we are preparing for it. If the [ICC] board agrees, we are ready to do it.”

The nations who set up the fund will not benefit from it.

The fund would ensure a minimum Test payment for all players, to be almost $15,000.

But just how much money the fund will get from the ICC is up for debate as a dispute with broadcaster Star TV unfolds.

Speaking to The SMH earlier this year, Waugh said governing bodies must invest more into the longer form of the game.

Neither Pakistan nor the West Indies sent a full-strength side to Australia for last summer’s Test matches, sparking a warning shot from Waugh.

“It’s going to happen if the South African Cricket Board are any indication of the future, keeping their best players at home,” he said.

“If I was New Zealand I wouldn’t even play the series. I don’t know why they’re even playing. Why would you when it shows a lack of respect for New Zealand cricket?

“It’s pretty obvious what the problem is. The West Indies aren’t sending their full-strength side (to Australia). They haven’t picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now.

“Someone like Nicholas Pooran is really a Test batsman who doesn’t play Test cricket. Jason Holder, probably their best player, is not playing now. Even Pakistan didn’t send a full side.

“If the ICC or someone doesn’t step in shortly then Test cricket doesn’t become Test cricket because you’re not testing yourself against the best players.

“I understand why players don’t come. They’re not getting paid properly. I don’t understand why ICC or the top countries who are making a lot of money don’t just have a regulation set fee for Test matches which is a premium, so people are incentivised to play Test Cricket.

“Otherwise they just play T10 or T20. The public are the ones who are going to suffers because it’s not the full side playing, so it’s not Test cricket.”