Mark Taylor says he’s in favour of the introduction of a two-tier Test system built on promotion and relegation after it was reported that talks were set to be held regarding a potential overhaul of the game’s structure.

The former Australian captain also says the International Cricket Council (ICC) must do more to support the financially weaker playing nations as the competitive gulf widens.

Daniel Brettig of The Age reported on Monday that Cricket Australia, the England Cricket Board and the ICC’s new chair, powerful Indian cricket chief Jay Shah, would meet this month and that the concept of a two-tier Test structure was firmly on the agenda.

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There is a strong appetite at the top levels of cricket for the “big three” — Australia, England and India — to face each other more often in Tests, Brettig noted.

“That’s something that’s been discussed for a number of years, that very topic, and I’m certainly not against it,” Taylor told Wide World of Sports.

“In a way that’s almost what we’ve got now. If you look at the World Test Championship [WTC] final you’ve got Australia taking on South Africa, and the way they’ve got there is by Australia winning this battle against India and England, and South Africa have won the battle against a lot of the other nations.

“So in a way, South Africa have been the winner of one side of the draw and Australia have been the winner of the other side of the draw.

“I’m sure it wasn’t planned that way, but in a way that’s what’s happened … If that’s the way it’s going to be, I’m for the idea, provided all the larger Test nations do the most they can to continue to develop the lesser financially backed nations.

“How many Test matches have we played against Bangladesh in the last six years? … I can’t recall when we last played Zimbabwe … It [introducing a two-tier system] is almost formalising what’s happening now.”

Australia is set to defend its World Test Championship title in the final against South Africa at Lord’s in June.

The Australians have met England, Pakistan, the West Indies, New Zealand and India in the ongoing WTC cycle, and are now set to play Sri Lanka in a two-Test series across this month and next.

South Africa clashed with India, New Zealand, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in this cycle, which spans 2023-2025.

Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are yet to feature in a WTC cycle due to their lowly rankings.

“If there’s a [two-tier] system that can be developed that actually formalises and plans out exactly how it’s going to happen, then you have nations that can strive to finish in the top two in the lower pool, if that’s the way you want to put it, to make it into the upper pool,” Taylor said.

“… The thing I see about the two-tier system is you have to have promotion and relegation … It might be the top six and the next six and you have one up and one down, or two up and two down, so at the end of the World Test Championship cycle, if you finished fifth or sixth you go down and the other two come up, and you keep the pressure on people to want to be in that top tier.

“And obviously the financial support for those nations is going to need to be there, as well. So I’d love to see some money directed from some of these ICC events [and] weighted more heavily towards longer formats of the game in these countries.”

Any plan to split Test cricket into two divisions would take effect after the current Future Tours Program in 2027.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan is a strong advocate of Test cricket moving to a two-tier structure.

“… I believe it [Test cricket] is a four-day product with a set number of overs each day enforced, three matches minimum per series, and two divisions of six, including promotion and relegation,” Vaughan wrote in a column for The Sydney Morning Herald.

“… I have been saying for a long time this is the way to keep Test cricket relevant by ensuring the best play the best as often as possible, and we get fewer mismatches.”