MUMBAI – Test cricket will cease to be just a bilateral affair from Thursday when England host Australia in the opening Ashes contest at Edgbaston to kick off the widely-anticipated World Test Championship (WTC).
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been determined to create a meaningful competition for the longest form of the game and the WTC is expected to provide the much-needed boost to Test, which is typically played over two-innings-a-side and up to five days.
The long-awaited Championship, involving the top nine Test nations competing in a league across two years, has been designed to give more meaning to Test series.
“The World Test Championship will bring relevance and context to bilateral test cricket over the next two years, creating a pinnacle event for the five-day format, just as the World Cups for men and women do in the ODI and T20I formats,” ICC General Manager Geoff Allardice said in a statement.
The nine top-ranked sides will play three Test series each at home and away over two years to determine the best test team in the world.
Points will be awarded for every single game and the two teams who top the points table will play in a one-off World Test Championship Final in June 2021 at Lord’s. The winners will be crowned World Test Champions.
There will be a new winner in the format after every two-year cycle. Each series will comprise a minimum of two and maximum of five tests and matches can also be played outside the WTC. Only matches previously identified as part of the WTC will count towards the championship.
Who are playing?
Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will compete in the first cycle. Three remaining teams – Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe – can play Tests but those will not be part of the WTC. The second WTC cycle is scheduled from June 2021 to April 2023.
How are points awarded?
There will be 120 points on offer for each series and will be distributed over the number of games. For example, a two-Test series will mean 60 points for each match while a three-Test series will award 40 points each. The five-Test Ashes series will award 24 points each. A tied match will be worth half the points available while a draw will fetch a third of the points.
What happens if there is a tie or draw?
If the final ends in a tie or a draw, the two teams will be named joint champions. The first cycle of the WTC will consist of five-day matches and will include day-night matches. (Reuters)
