The scheme is effective retrospectively from May 1995.

The team picked as the best in each season will be named the Ceat International Cricket Team of the Year, with a prize of Rs 10 million.

PMG director Sumedh Shah, announcing the scheme, said that performances in both formats of the game - Tests and one-dayers would be considered and a three-judge panel comprising Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd and Ian Chappell will allot points after each Test and one day international.

The judges will also take into account number of matches played, percentage of wins, ratio of Tests to one dayers, quality of the opposition and other factors.

A team winning a Test at home will get six points, and nine points for an away win. The trio of judges indicated that this system had been thought of because since 1970, out of 658 Tests played thus far, home wins were 227 as compared to 149 away wins.

The winner of a one day international will get two points, and a bonus point will be added if there are more than two participating countries. In other words, a win in a triangular will rate three points, in a quadrangular tournament a win rates four points, and so on.

No points will be awarded for a drawn Test or an abandoned onedayer, but a Test tie will be worth three points and a similar result in a one-dayer will be worth one point.

Shah said the idea germinated during a casual discussion which took place on the day the first Ceat International Cricketer of the Year award was presented, to Brian Lara of the West Indies, last September.

Circulars were sent to all cricket-playing countries, and the answers were positive, Shah said, adding that a copy of the circular had been sent to the International Cricket Council for its information.

Sumedh Shah added that if the scheme had been in vogue from the 1992-1993 season onwards, then the West Indies, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would have won the awards in the respective years.