2018 ICC Test Challenge
| Administrator(s) | International Cricket Council |
|---|---|
| Cricket format | First-class cricket |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) | Various (home and away) |
| Participants | 8 |
| Matches played | 29 |
The 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup is the seventh edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, an international first-class cricket tournament between leading associate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is running from 2015 to 2017. It runs in parallel with the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship but with slightly different teams. As Ireland and Afghanistan have qualified for the ICC One Day International Championship ranking qualification process, they are replaced by Kenya and Nepal in the limited over event; however they continue to play the four-day event.
As a result of changes to the structure of international cricket announced by the ICC in January 2014, the winner of the 2015-17 Intercontinental Cup (and following editions of the tournament) were originally scheduled to play four five-day matches against the bottom ranked Test nation (two home and two away matches), an event known as the 2018 ICC Test Challenge. Should the winner of the Intercontinental Cup go on to win the ICC Test Challenge, they would become the 11th Test nation.
However, in February 2017 following an ICC Board meeting, changes were agreed in principle to expand the number of Test nations to twelve. Both Afghanistan and Ireland were likely to be granted Test status before the proposed 2018 ICC Test Challenge. In June 2017, the ICC awarded both Afghanistan and Ireland Full Member status, making them eligible to play Test match cricket. As a result, the planned Test Challenge was scrapped.
The following are the 8 teams participating in the competition based on the results from 2011–13 ICC World Cricket League Championship, 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two.
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