The
tournament, which begins with the Ashes, will see nine teams competing in 71
Test matches across 27 series, played for a period of over two years.
International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday
officially launched the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC).
The tournament, which will officially begin
on August 1, 2019 will see the top nine teams competing in 71 Test matches
across 27 series, played for a period of over two years.
Organised by the member boards, the matches
will be played just like any bilateral series, but with the added context of a
competition and one champion team. Every game in a series will count for points
(allocation below) as the world’s best teams go head to head.
Opponents were scheduled by collective
agreement of the competing members, with a number of the fixtures already
committed within existing member rights agreements.
After the end of all games, the top two teams
with most points will take part in the ICC WTC final in June 2021 in the United
Kingdom where the winners will be crowned champions.
Teams:
The top nine teams in the ICC Test rankings will all be a part of the Test championship. The teams include India, New Zealand, South Africa, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh. The top nine ranked teams on the ICC Test rankings as on 31 March 2018 were chosen.
Any matches featuring
the teams outside the top nine - Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe (their
suspension from ICC notwithstanding) - will not be part of the Test
Championship.
Format:
Each of the nine teams in the WTC plays three home and three away series. The number of matches in each series can vary between a minimum of two matches to a maximum of five matches. However, the number of matches are not the same for all teams.
England
will play the highest number of Tests, with 22 scheduled, thanks to four- and
five-match series against Australia, South Africa and India. Pakistan and Sri
Lanka, however, will only play 13 matches each in the two-year period.
Australia and India will both play 18 matches, 15-apiece for South Africa and West Indies and 14 each for Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Matches
played by each team
Team | Matches |
England | 22 |
Australia | 19 |
India | 18 |
South Africa | 16 |
West Indies | 15 |
New Zealand | 14 |
Bangladesh | 14 |
Pakistan | 13 |
Sri Lanka | 13 |
Where will it be played?
The
WTC will be played over two years across different continents starting from
August 2019. The nine teams will figure in 27 series with the champion decided
after 72 Test matches. The Final will be played in June 2021.
Series in the World Test Championships:
Two Test series | Three Test series | Four Test series | Five Test series |
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand (2019) |
India vs South Africa (2019) |
South Africa vs England (2019-'20) |
England vs Australia (2019) |
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (2019) |
Australia vs New Zealand (2019-'20) |
Australia vs India (2020-'21) | India vs England (2021) |
Australia vs Pakistan (2019) |
England vs West Indies (2020) | ||
West Indies vs India (2019) |
Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (2020) | ||
India vs Bangladesh (2019) |
England vs Pakistan (2020) | ||
Pakistan vs Bangladesh |
Bangladesh vs West Indies (2021) | ||
Sri Lanka vs England (2020) |
South Africa vs Australia (2021) | ||
West Indies vs South Africa (2020) |
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New Zealand vs West Indies (2020) |
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New Zealand vs India (2020) |
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Bangladesh vs Australia (2020) |
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Bangladesh vs New Zealand (2020) |
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New Zealand vs Pakistan (2020) |
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Pakistan vs South Africa (2021) |
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South Africa vs Sri Lanka (2021) |
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West Indies vs Sri Lanka (2021) |
Points
system:
Each team plays six series, with each series counting
for 120 points, distributed over the number of matches in a series.
For example, a two-match series will mean 60 points
for each Test while a three-match series will give 40 points to each Test
match. A tie will be 50% of the points available, whilst a draw will be a 3:1
points ratio.
Distribution of points
Matches | Win | Tie | Draw | Defeat |
2 | 60 | 30 | 20 | 0 |
3 | 40 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
4 | 30 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
5 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 0 |
Slow
over-rates
Captains will
no longer run the risk of being suspended for slow over-rates with the ICC
deciding to instead dock points and fine the entire side for any such
violations, starting with the upcoming World Test Championship.
“In World Test
Championship matches, a team that is behind the required over-rate at the end
of a match will have two competition points deducted for each over it is
behind,” the ICC said recently.
“Captains will
no longer be suspended for repeated or serious over-rate breaches. All players
should be held equally responsible for slow over-rates, and as such will be
fined at the same level as the captain.”
Concussion
substitutes
Following a
two-year trial of concussion replacements in domestic cricket, the ICC approved
concussion player replacements in all formats of men’s and women’s international
cricket and for First-Class cricket worldwide.
This will be
included in ICC playing conditions from 1 August 2019. Decisions on
replacements will continue to be made by the team medical representative and
the player should be a like-for-like replacement who will need to be approved
by the match Refree.
After the end of the current WTC, the
second cycle will begin after the final and will go on till 30 April 2023.