The ICC World Test Championship is a league competition for

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

run by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...

(ICC), which started on 1 August

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. It is intended to be the premier championship for Test cricket. It is in line with the ICC's goal of having one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats of international cricket. The original plans to hold the competition in 2009, replacing the

2013 ICC Champions Trophy The 2013 ICC Champions Trophy was the seventh ICC Champions Trophy, a One Day International cricket tournament held in England and Wales between 6 and 23 June 2013. India won the competition, beating England by five runs in the final after ov ...

, were abandoned. It was rescheduled for June 2017, with a second Test championship to take place in India in Feb-March 2021.No Champions Trophy after 2013
Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 April 2012 The top four ranked teams on 31 December 2016 – the cut-off date set by the ICC – would play the three-match Test championship. There would have been two semi-finals and the winners play the final. However, in January 2014 the ICC World Test Championship was canceled and the

2017 ICC Champions Trophy The 2017 ICC Champions Trophy was the eighth ICC Champions Trophy, a cricket tournament for the eight top-ranked One Day International (ODI) teams in the world. It was held in England and Wales from 1 to 18 June 2017. Pakistan won the competit ...

was reinstated. In October 2017, the ICC announced that a Test league had been agreed upon by its members, which would involve the top nine teams playing series over two years with the top two teams qualifying for a World Test League Championship Final, which will be considered as an ICC event. The league games of WTC were not considered as an ICC event and the broadcasting rights were with the host nation’s cricketing board itself and not with ICC. But unlike the league stage matches, the WTC finals were considered to be an ICC even

The 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship, first ICC World Test Championship started with the 2019 Ashes series, and finished with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

lifting the trophy after defeating India in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

in June 2021. The second ICC World Test Championship started on 4 August 2021 with the Pataudi Trophy series.

History

Cancelled 2013 tournament

This championship was first proposed in 2009, when the ICC met the MCC to discuss a proposed Test match championship. Former New Zealand captain

Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator. He played for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1982 and 1995, and is regarded as one of the count ...

was one of the main brains behind this proposal. In July 2010 ICC chief executive

Haroon Lorgat Haroon Lorgat ( gu, હારૂન લોરગાટ; born 26 May 1960) is a South African businessman and chartered accountant. He has served as CEO of the International Cricket Council and Cricket South Africa. Personal life and education ...

suggested a quadrennial tournament with the four best-ranked nations meeting in the semi-finals and a final, in a bid to boost flagging interest in the longest form of the sport. The first tournament was meant to replace the

in England and Wales. The idea of a Test championship was considered by the ICC Chief Executives' Committee at a meeting at their headquarters in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

in mid-September 2010. ICC spokesperson Colin Gibson said that much more would be revealed after the meeting, and that if the championship was held in England, then the favoured final venue would be

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England ...

. As expected, the ICC approved the plan and said that the first tournament would be held in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 2013. The format of the tournament was also announced. It would comprise an inaugural league stage, played over a period of four years, with all ten current

nations (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

) participating. After the league stage the top four teams will take part in the play-offs, with the final determining the Test cricket champions.ICC approves Test championship
ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2012 There was a debate as to whether the play-off would take place between the top 8 teams or the top four teams, but the latter was unanimously chosen by the board. It was also announced that the tournament would replace the

ICC Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council. The 2013 tournament was intended to be the final edition of the Champions Trophy, but it was extended to 2017 due to ...

. No decision had been made concerning how to decide the outcome of drawn matches in the knock-out stages. However, in 2011, the ICC announced that the Test Championship would not take place until 2017, and that the 2013 tournament would be cancelled because of financial problems within the board, and its commitment to its sponsors and broadcasters. England and Wales, the original hosts of this cancelled tournament were awarded the

instead, the tournament that the Test Championship was intended to replace. This drew widespread criticism; both

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

and

Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held t ...

criticised the ICC, saying that postponing the Test Championship was wrong and unjustified. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' reported that this postponement was a blow to Lord's, which had been expected to host the final.

Cancelled 2017 tournament

At the ICC Chief Executives' meeting in April 2012, it was confirmed that the

would be last held in 2013 with the inaugural Test Championship play-offs being scheduled for June 2017.No Champions Trophy after 2013
Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 April 2012 The ICC said that there would be only one trophy for each format of the game, which meant that the Champions Trophy would no longer take place since the

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), ...

is the premier event for 50-over cricket. The final would possibly have followed the historical

timeless test A timeless Test is a match of Test cricket played under no limitation of time, which means the match is played until one side wins or the match is tied, with theoretically no possibility of a draw. The format means that it is not possible to play ...

format. Further improvements in the structure of the championship have also been discussed. However, in January 2014 the 2017 ICC World Test Championship was cancelled and the

was reinstated.

2019–21 tournament

The first tournament began with the 2019 Ashes series. In March 2020, matches were suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, not resuming before July 2020, with several rounds of matches being postponed or ultimately cancelled. New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the final, when it was confirmed that the series between South Africa and Australia would not proceed, followed by India. The inaugural World Test Championship Final was played between India and New Zealand from 18–23 June 2021 at Rose Bowl, Southampton, England. Despite the opening and fourth day of the final being washed out by rain, New Zealand managed to win in the final session of the reserve day and lifted the first World Test Championship trophy.

2021–23 Tournament

The WTC 2021–23 cycle began in August 2021. The

officially announced the full programme with a new points system.

2023–25 Tournament

The WTC 2023–25 cycle will begin with the 1st

Ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...

Test on 16th June 2023. The

officially announced that the WTC final will be played at

in the summer of 2025.

Results

Team performances

An overview of all the Test playing nations' performances: Key:

Tournament records

References

External links

ICC World Test Championship ESPN Cricinfo
{{Main world championships Test, World World Test Championship Test cricket competitions