Report: Australia Could Be Out Of WTC Final Following ICC's Decision To Bring Forward Cricket South Africa's Complaint

In an interesting turn of events, the Tim Paine-led Australia might not qualify for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final even if England defeats India in the fourth and final Test of the ongoing series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The scenarios for teams like Australia and India to qualify for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final (WTC) alongside New Zealand are straightforward following England’s defeat in the last game by ten wickets.

Australia will qualify for the WTC final if England beats India in the 4th Test while Virat Kohli’s side will go through if India managed to either draw or win the final Test.

But with the International Cricket Council (ICC) looking to bring forward Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) complaint against Cricket Australia (CA), should the latter qualify for the marquee event.

Earlier this year, Cricket Australia had postponed their Test tour of South Africa at the last minute, citing the Covid-19 threat in the rainbow nation.

Cricket South Africa had then proceeded to lodge a formal complaint with the ICC, demanding compensation and the allotment of 120 World Test Championship (WTC) points.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, should the ICC deduct points then Australia will be eliminated from the competition despite England winning the final Test against India.

According to the report, Cricket Australia has been given a one-week deadline by the ICC to inform whether the matter can be solved via goodwill negotiations.

If that does not happen, then the matter will be transferred from ICC’s ‘Dispute Committee’ to an independent body and they would be deciding if Cricket Australia were well within their rights to postpone the Test series.

If that’s not the case, then the independent body might award the full 120 points to South Africa, ensuring that Australia finished below India in the WTC points even if the latter fails to win its last Test against England.

The panel may also decide to allow Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa to negotiate and zero in on new dates for the Test series before the current FTP ends in April 2023.

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