SYDNEY: West Indies great Clive Lloyd is “disturbed” by the idea of a two-tier structure for Test cricket and believes efforts should instead be focused on ensuring struggling teams play more often against the top sides. Lloyd was fiercely critical of the idea, which he believed could be catastrophic for the likes of the West Indies, which ruled the game in the 1970s and 1980s when he was captain. According to a in , India, Australia and England are in talks to divide Test cricket into two divisions to allow cricket’s “Big Three” to play each other more often. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Indian chairman Jay Shah will meet representatives of the Australian and English boards this month, the report said. “I think it will be terrible for all those countries who worked so hard to get the Test status,” the 80-year-old told an online media interaction. “Now they’ll be playing among themselves in the lower section. How are they going to make it to the top? When you play against better teams.” The ICC did not offer any immediate comment on whether the proposal was under consideration. Test cricket is reeling under the popularity of T20 leagues across the world, but the format produces intense drama at the top level. India just played a blockbuster series in front of huge crowds in Australia, and their next Test assignment is another five-match series in England in June-July. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri is a vocal supporter of the two-tier concept, which he believes can help Test cricket survive against T20. “The top teams play against each other more often, so there is a contest. You want contests,” Shastri told radio during India’s fifth Test against Australia. Lloyd warned that being banished to the lower tier with a corresponding drop in funding could lead to the disintegration of the West Indies team, which is made up of players from 15 island nations. “Our islands have got to play together. We’ve been doing that for years,” he added. While a cricket-mad India has emerged as the game’s financial engine, Lloyd recalled how the West Indies contributed to the game’s development, including by lending their players to county cricket in England in the 1970s. “We were the cash cows for a lot of countries over the years … people must recognise that,” he said. “But we are at that situation now where we need the help, and we can’t get it.” Vaughan joined Shastri in urging a shake-up which would include relegation and promotion to help ensure the survival of the red-ball game. Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan threw his support behind a two-tier structure “to save” Test cricket. “It has been a series that has only served to strengthen my views on where the game is headed and what administrators should be looking at,” Vaughan said in a column for in London and . “I believe it 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.” Shastri said the Australia-India series proved Test cricket continued to hold its own in the face of ever-increasing T20 franchise cricket. But, like Vaughan, it only reinforced his view that to survive, the biggest teams needed to be playing each other more often. Any move to two divisions would kick in after the end of the current Future Tours Programme in 2027, said report, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. “I was delighted to read in this masthead the ICC are considering a two-tier structure from 2027 which could see the Ashes staged twice every three years,” said Vaughan. “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 mis-matches. “There is much to iron out before any major changes are made for 2027, but there is time.”