Dubai, July 29, 2019: The International Cricket Council has today, Monday 29 July 2019, officially launched the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
Getting underway on 1 August 2019, the WTC will see the top nine Test teams in the world – Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
Compete in 71 Test matches across 27 series, played over two years; with the top two teams contesting the ICC World Test Championship Final in June 2021 (will play in the UK) and the winners crowned ICC World Test Champions.
Comments Geoff Allardice, ICC General Manager – Cricket Operations:
“The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup this summer showed just how important it is for every game to count and for the world’s best teams to go head-to-head.
The World Test Championship will bring relevance and context to bilateral Test cricket over the next two years, creating a pinnacle event for the five-day format, just as the World Cups for men and women do in the ODI and T20I formats.”
“Test cricket the pinnacles of our sport,” said England’s leading test wicket taker, James Anderson.
“It is the very essence of cricket and the majority of players want to strive to play the purist form of the game.
The ICC World Test Championship is another brilliant initiative for the sport, adding context and relevance to every Test series. Every Test matters, but even more so now.”
“We are awaiting the ICC World Test Championship with great enthusiasm as it adds context to the longest format of the game,” said India’s skipper, Virat Kohli.
“Test cricket is very challenging and coming out on top in the traditional form is always highly satisfying. The Indian team has done really well in recent years and will be fancying its chances in the championship.”
“The World Test Championship a fantastic initiative,” said Australia Test captain Tim Paine.
With points available for every single game, each team will play three home and three away series. Each series counts 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.
Opponents scheduled by collective agreement of the competing Members, with a number of the fixtures already committed within existing Member rights agreements.
The first cycle of the WTC consists of only five-day matches and will include day-night matches, subject to bilateral and mutual agreement between the opponents.
Only matches identified as part of the WTC will count towards the championship.
The ICC is responsible for the competition terms and the conduct of cricket, by way of providing match officials and ensuring matches are played as per the laws of the game.
The ICC is also responsible for delivery of the ICC World Test Championship final. —- ICC
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.