A new chapter begins this Wednesday at Lord’s when defending champions Australia will take on South Africa in the third World Test Championship final. The ICC’s new tournament is intended to add context to bilateral Test cricket, with every match counting and the top two after two-year cycles competing for the WTC crown in a one-off final game.
While it is early days in the tournament’s burgeoning history, there is reason for naysayers to be cautiously optimistic. A tournament to decide the world’s best Test team has been mooted for years, with West Indies legend Clive Lloyd first proposing the idea back in 1996. After years of careful discussion – which took into account issues such as the international calendar, other ICC tournaments and existing commitments to broadcasters and sponsors – the WTC was launched in 2019.
The WTC is open to the nine full member Test teams (Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe). Each country participates in two cycles based on its ranking, with each Test series earning points depending on how many Test matches are played (four or more for a win, three or fewer for a draw). Teams also earn or lose bonus points based on their slow over-rate performance.
The finals are hosted in the ICC’s home nation and, following a successful staging of the 2025 showpiece between Australia and South Africa at Lord’s, the ECB was awarded hosting rights for the next three shows. Despite the gloomy predictions for the future of the long format, the ECB has made a solid start to its WTC tenure and the ICC would be wise to consider extending the competition in the same way that it has done for ODIs.