World Test Championship set to stay nine-team contest till 2031
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The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (04) are Nittambuwa, Algama, Malwana, Aranayake, Meegahakiula and Panamkadu about 12.09 noon.
Mandhana’s record ton powers India into semi-finals
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The World Test Championship (WTC) is set to remain at nine teams for the next two cycles through to 2031, despite some vocal support for an expanded competition.
Fierce debate is expected at the ICC board’s all-day meeting on Sunday in Bali, where this long-running issue will finally be decided. The board is expected to ultimately back the ICC’s recommendations to keep the competition as is for the 2027-29 and 2029-31 cycles.
The WTC is currently, in the back-end of its fourth cycle, with the format having undergone much discussion in recent years, including a push for a two-tier league at one stage.
A proposal to expand the WTC to all 12 Full Members in one division, a recommendation from an ICC working group led by former New Zealand batter Roger Twose, had gained steam in the past year. It received strong support from Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan, the Full Members not part of the WTC.
But with doubts lingering among members over whether more teams would bring more commercial value (the WTC remains a league organised and scheduled by members bilaterally, with only the final run by the ICC) the ICC has preferred retaining the format for the time being.
Foreshadowing what’s ahead at the board meeting, there was robust debate over the issue on Saturday at a Chief Executives’ Committee meeting that lasted more than four hours. There were impassioned pleas from the three Full Members on the outer, who believe their Test development is being stifled without WTC status. They also rue not having a chance to get into the top nine without a promotion-relegation system in place.
Cricket South Africa was also understood to be strongly supportive of expansion with chief executive Pholetsi Moseki providing a rallying cry during the CEC meeting. The positions of the BCCI and Cricket Australia remain unclear. England have played Zimbabwe and Ireland in one-off Tests in recent years, but the ECB is believed to be reticent over expansion due to travel and financial burdens.
The ECB and Zimbabwe Cricket are in the midst of finalising England’s historic tour to Zimbabwe after a three-decade drought. Initially earmarked for 2028, the tour is set to take place in 2030 and include a Test match at Victoria Falls.
Sunday’s board meeting looms as a last-ditch effort for expansion proponents, who are bracing for the worst. There is the very slim chance of a compromise through a 10-team competition, given Zimbabwe’s strong appetite for Test cricket: they played 10 Tests in 2025 though only two this year.
Meanwhile, a strategic review into international cricket’s future – involving scrutiny of cricket’s three official formats – will be tabled to the board. A presentation from global management consulting firm McKinsey, who undertook the review, was held in Bali on Saturday night ahead of the board meeting.
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have announced one additional measles-associated death in each state, marking 10 total deaths in the United States linked to the disease this year.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported an infant’s death on Friday, while the Pennsylvania Department of Health said that its latest death was an unvaccinated patient who had tested positive for measles
Pennsylvania has logged seven measles-associated deaths, while Wisconsin has reported two. On November 2, New York state said a child had died in the state’s first recorded measles death in more than 30 years.
More than 5,400 confirmed measles cases have been recorded in the US to date, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center tracker.
The number of confirmed cases as of November 2026 is more than double the 2,289 confirmed cases reported in 2025.
The CDC recorded six measles-related deaths, according to figures on its website. The newly reported data is twice the deaths the agency recorded in 2025.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the 2027 Budget has presented the investments necessary to move the country from a situation of crisis that existed when the Government assumed office towards a transformative economy built on economic stability.
The Prime Minister made these remarks while delivering a special address in Parliament during the debate on the 2027 Budget.
The Prime Minister highlighted that, for the first time in history, a substantial capital investment of over Rs. 749 billion has been allocated to the education sector for 2027. She further pointed out that this allocation represents more than 12 per cent of total government expenditure.
Emphasising further on the measures taken to strengthen the education sector, the Prime Minister stated that smart boards have been provided to more than 4,570 schools, while internet facilities have been extended to over 6,000 schools. She also noted that the curricula of National Colleges of Education, which had remained unchanged for 17 years, are currently being updated. Further, smart classrooms have been established at five additional National Colleges of Education, including the Maharagama National College of Education, with priority being given to teacher training.
The Prime Minister also rejected allegations that foreign direct investment (FDI) had declined to a record low in 2025. Referring to data covering the decade from 2016 to 2025, she stated that Sri Lanka had attracted approximately USD 1.4 billion in FDI in 2025, marking the highest FDI inflow recorded during the past ten years. Presenting statistical evidence of the economic progress achieved by the Government over the past two years, the Prime Minister stated that the country had sustained an economic growth rate of 5 per cent in 2025.
She noted that Sri Lanka had recorded a positive primary balance in 2025. Although the projected positive primary balance for 2026, according to the Budget, was Rs. 360 billion, it had increased to Rs. 1,844 billion by the end of September. She further stated that the central government debt, which stood at 114 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2022, had declined significantly by the end of 2025.
The Prime Minister also emphasised that the Government had succeeded in turning around 52 major State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which had collectively recorded a net loss of Rs. 74.6 billion in 2022, and bringing them into a profitable position. She further noted that the World Economic Forum had ranked Sri Lanka 10th among countries with the fastest-growing tourism economies.
Commenting on the public service, the Prime Minister stated that recruitment to the public sector had commenced under a transparent process based on merit, ensuring that the right person is appointed to the right position, without any political interference. Under this process, which had remained stalled since 2017, nearly 40,000 employees have already been recruited.
She added that an environment has now been created in which public servants can perform their duties with dignity and confidence, free from political pressure. Concluding her address, the Prime Minister stressed that criticism should be part of an informed and constructive dialogue based on facts and data. She invited all parties to set aside political differences and join the national effort to rebuild the country.
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