LONDON, England (CMC) — The West Indies will host the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Twenty20 in 2018 and the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2022.

These were among decisions taken at the conclusion of the ICC Annual Conference in London on Saturday.

The IDI Board (ICC Development International) also confirmed that England will stage the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in 2017, while the second edition will be held in India in 2021.

In addition to this, between 2015 and 2023, the ICC will stage 18 events, including two ICC Cricket World Cup Tournaments, two ICC World Test Championships, two ICC World Twenty20 events, three ICC Women’s World Cups, three ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cups, two ICC Women’s World Twenty20 and four qualifying tournaments.

“We are delighted to confirm the exciting schedule of events through to 2023,” said ICC chief executive officer David Richardson.

“The ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales was highly acclaimed and appreciated by all. However, the principle of one pinnacle global event for each of the three formats over a four-year cycle is a good one and, as such, the ICC Board has agreed to replace the Champions Trophy with the ICC World Test Championship. Now that the ICC World Test Championship has been confirmed, we’ll work on the playing conditions and qualification criteria, and will submit these to the ICC Board for approval in due course.”

The ICC Board supported the strategy of ensuring an optimum balance between the three formats of the game — especially Test cricket — and approved the recommendation that the full members should play a minimum of 16 Tests in each four-year cycle.

In order to ensure that all ODIs played over the four-year cycle between ICC Cricket World Cups count towards a team’s ranking, the ICC Board agreed to change the ODI rankings period from three years to four years.

For the sake of consistency, the ICC Board also agreed to change the calculation of the T20 rankings to cover the same period.

It was also agreed to change the date of the annual ICC Rankings update to May 1 of each year rather than August 1, acknowledging that the beginning of May provided a more logical break in the international season.

The IDI Board reviewed an inspection report by the ICC Venue Consultant on the venues for the ICC World Twenty20 scheduled for Bangladesh in 2014 and expressed its concern regarding the progress of construction and improvements to playing facilities in Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet. The Board noted that a further inspection and report is scheduled for August after which a final decision will be taken on the venues for the event.

The IDI Board also agreed to expand the ICC Women’s World Twenty20, also scheduled for Bangladesh in 2014 to a 10-team tournament. This means, the top three teams from the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 to be held in Dublin, Ireland, from 23-31 July will now qualify and will join Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies in the tournament finals.

Teams participating in the Dublin tournament include Canada, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Zimbabwe.