World Test Championship set to be shelved due to lukewarm interest

• TV and sponsors turn backs on Test cricket tournament
• Champions Trophy may be revived instead

Alastair Cook's England dropped to fourth in the Test ranking table and would have been in danger of missing out on the World Test Championship that they were due to host in 2017. Photograph: Jason O'Brien/Action Images

The World Test Championship, which was to be held in England in the summer of 2017, is expected to be laid quietly to rest by the end of the month.

It will be the second – and probably last – time that the idea of a play-off between the top teams in the International Cricket Council's world Test rankings has been shelved, because sponsors and broadcasters remain lukewarm, at best, about the uncertainty which inevitably surrounds the format.

That could mean another reprieve for the ICC Champions Trophy, the one-day tournament that has been staged seven times since 1998, and again appeared far too short, sharp and attractive to consign to the scrapheap when India beat England in what was due to be the last final at Edgbaston in June 2013.

Officials from the ICC and national governing bodies such as the England and Wales Cricket Board remain keen to enhance the standing and significance of Test cricket via the rankings, and are likely to do so by increasing financial incentives. They were increased this time last year so that South Africa received $450,000 (£275,000) for topping the rankings in April 2013, and are already guaranteed to receive a similar sum for consolidating that position over the next 12-month period, whatever happens in their home series against Australia.

The World Test Championship, which was originally due to be held in the summer of 2013 only to be deferred because Indian broadcasters much preferred to retain the Champions Trophy, was launched by the ICC in Abu Dhabi in October – when Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive, referred grandly to the "epic nature" of "a journey that all the Test playing nations will embark upon over the next four years".

It was to be contested by the top four teams in the rankings as of December 2016, giving a little extra edge to England's recent slump as a result of their Ashes drubbing. They are now fourth in the table and would therefore be in danger of missing out on the competition that they were due to host.

The confirmation of its demise – and what will come in its place – is expected after an ICC meeting later this month. The delegates also seem certain to discuss the uncertainty over the World Twenty20 which starts in Bangladesh in little more than two months.

An ECB official confirmed on Monday that they would be represented at a security meeting in Bangladesh arranged by the ICC for next week, in response to concerns about political violence in the country. Reg Dickason, England's long-serving security adviser, will also provide an independent threat assessment to the Federation of International Cricketers Associations.

The first stage of the tournament, which does not involve England or the other seven leading nations, is due to begin with Bangladesh facing Afghanistan in Mirpur, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, on 16 March, with Ireland playing three games in Sylhet during that qualification stage before England open their campaign against New Zealand in Chittagong six days later.

Kolkata and Ranchi in north-east India have already been mooted as alternative venues should the ICC decide that Bangladesh is no longer a suitable venue