Lorgat said he felt more ICC member nations were now behind the idea

A play-off to decide the best Test team in the world could be in place by 2013, the chief executive of world cricket's governing body has told BBC Sport.

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Haroon Lorgat said the idea was "still a work in progress".

But he added: "I'm encouraged with the progress we've made. There's a slot in 2013 we think could work."

The plan would see the top four in the ICC's Test rankings meeting in two semi-finals, with a final to follow.

Cricket's authorities have been looking for a way to raise the status of Test cricket in the face of the rising popularity of Twenty20 cricket.

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Lorgat had previously said India and England had expressed reservations about the concept, but he said more people were now seeing the positives.

"When I first got involved it was a foreign concept, but a lot more of the full members are seeing the need to generate some more interest in Test cricket - maybe the way to do it is through some series of finals," he said.

Individual nations' television contracts and commitments would make reaching any final decision a complicated process, but Lorgat said they were getting closer to achieving something tangible.

"We could take the existing rankings table and the top four could play in semi-finals and a final. A lot of work has been done - it's not straight forward, but I think we will see in the not too distant future some proposal on the table," he added.

He also refused to rule out the possibility that the championship games could be staged as day-night Tests.

"When we look at some of the research we get through, the convenience factor of day-night games is great," he said.

"We believe it is something we should explore - one thing for certain is that we should keep an open mind.

"We certainly want to encourage our members to explore the prospect of day-night games, domestically at first, and once we get that right, we can move to Test level."

Another obstacle to a possible world Test championship is the already crowded fixture schedule, with Twenty20, 50 over and Test matches all vying for attention.

But Lorgat said he did not believe that 50 over cricket would necessarily be the one to suffer.

"I strongly believe we have three viable formats," he said.

"I believe there is a future for the 50 over game. Maybe it'll need some tweaks, but when people talk about fundamentally bringing in the bulldozer and revamping the game, I'm not one of those sceptics.

"It's more important to schedule correctly, to balance the quantums of those formats correctly and then create a proper context. If we can do that, then I see a future for each of those three formats."

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