Under the proposals, seven sides would have featured in the top tier while five would have made up the second division, with promotion and relegation between each league.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur and Bangladesh Cricket Board counterpart Nazmul Hassan, however, both confirmed that the idea had been scrapped.

It has been reported that India raised the strongest opposition, with Thakur telling Agence France Presse that "the BCCI could have benefited financially from the two-tier system but morally we wanted to stand with the countries which would have been badly affected".

England, Australia and New Zealand were thought to have been behind the idea, which would have seen the trio, along with India, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka, form the top division of the league.

West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would then have joined Ireland and Afghanistan in the second tier.

The decision was taken at a two-day ICC workshop, held in Dubai, which aimed to discuss the international calendar future events in the sport across all three formats – Test, one-day internationals and Twenty20.

Following the meeting, ICC chief executive David Richardson announced there had been "appetite from all 10 members for more context around all three formats of the game" and that a consensus had been reached in a "number of areas".

This included plans for the top two ranked sides in the world to play-off on a biennial basis to crown a Test champion.

"Significant progress on the future shape of all international cricket has been made at the two-day cricket structures workshop in Dubai as Members have explored how to improve the quality of bi-lateral cricket," Richardson said in a statement.

"The focus has been on solutions that will grow fan interest and engagement by delivering high quality cricket with the best players playing in an environment where every match counts.

"Encouragingly there is an appetite from the ten full members for more context around all three formats of the game and we have consensus on a range of areas.

"This includes the details of ODI and T20 structures and principles around Test cricket schedules, which include the concept of a Test Champion play off every two years, and the opportunity for more nations to be involved.

"There are some complexities, not least because of scheduling and existing structures, but we envisage the changes being implemented for 2019."

The workshop was held after the ICC failed to agree on proposals made during their week-long Annual Conference in Edinburgh in July.

The ICC are hoping to enhance interest in the Test format, considered the pinnacle of the sport, which has been waning in recent years due to the rampant growth of Twenty20.