The ICC has confirmed England will host the 2024 and 2025 World Test Championship finals. The showpiece, which crowns the world champions in the longest format of cricket, was held for the first time at Southampton and Lord’s in the last two cycles. ECB chief executive Richard Gould said the decision was a “testament to the passion of fans here for this treasured format”.
Under the current structure, which has been in place since 2019, each team plays series against the other nations in an inaugural league stage over two years. The top two teams then compete in a knockout phase consisting of semi-finals and a final to determine the Test world champions, with the winners taking the prestigious ICC test mace. A win in a World Test Championship match is worth 12 points, a tie is worth six and a loss or no-scoring draw is worth four. A team behind the required over-rate will forfeit one point for every over they are behind.
But critics of the WC system have argued that it is not equitable, especially for wealthy countries such as Australia, India and South Africa, who can compete in five-Test series against each other that are high quality, exciting and profitable but also difficult to win. The fact that South Africa reached the WTC final without facing Australia or England this cycle, while England are struggling to get into the semi-finals despite competing in five series against both of them, speaks to these concerns.