ICC World Test Championship (2025)
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is a biennial tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is the premier tournament in the Test format.
Started in 2019, every cycle of the WTC is played across two years before a final decides the winner of the cycle. The tournament follows a format comprising a league stage, where teams earn points across bilateral series, before a final is played between the top two teams.
The top nine Test teams in the ICC rankings are allowed to compete in the championship. Each team plays six series during the two-year cycle - three at home and three away. The numbers of matches in a series is decided by the competing teams.
To ensure a level playing field despite teams playing a different number of matches, the governing body of the game uses a points percentage system. As a result, the teams are based on the percentage of points won rather than the total number of points.
The teams get 12 points for a win, six for a tie and four for a draw. So, a win is 100%, a tie is 50% and a draw is 33.3%. Additionally, the ICC also deduct points for a slow over-rate.
The WTC league games are organised by the host nation's cricket board. On the other hand, the final is conducted by the ICC. The final of the first two edition of the competition has been held in England and the third final will also take place in the same country.
ICC WTC - Journey so far:
The inaugural ICC WTC cycle began in 2019 with the iconic Ashes series in England. Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies participated in the inaugural ICC WTC that was played from 2019 to 2021.
A number of series had to be postponed due to the Covid pandemic and the ICC were forced to change the point system in order to take into account the variation in the number of series played per team. In the end, India and New Zealand finished in the top two and qualified for the final.
The final was played at the Rose Bowl, Southampton. New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets to become the first-ever ICC WTC champions.
The second edition of the championship was played from 2021 t0 2023. The same nine teams participated in the second edition as well. The cycle began in August 2021 with the five-match Test series between England and India. For the second time in a row, India qualified for the final and were joined by Australia.
The final was played at the Oval, London. India once again ended up on the losing side as Australia won the game by 209 runs.
The third cycle of the WTC was played from 2023 to 2025. The cycle began in June 2023 with the Ashes series in England. The same nine teams played in the third cycle as well, as Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan failed to make the cut.
Australia and South Africa qualified for the final at the end of the league stage. The final will be played between them in June 2025 at the Lord's, London.
The ICC WTC has definitely given a much-needed boost to Test format and has made the format popular among the fans once again. Stay updated with every detail you need to know about the ICC WTC - from schedule, squad announcements, points table, match updates and every other information. Cricket Addictor is your one-stop destination for all the latest ICC WTC news.
