The 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship was the second edition of the

ICC World Test Championship The ICC World Test Championship, often shortened to WTC, is a biennial cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council. It is played over two years and is the premier championship for Test cricket. The winners of the tourn ...

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

. It started on 4 August 2021 and finished with the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 7–11 June 2023 at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, played between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The five-match Pataudi Trophy between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and India, started 4 August 2021, started the second cycle of the World Test Championship. That series, along with the Ashes in December 2021, were the only two series comprising five Tests in the second WTC cycle.

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

were the defending champions. In September 2022, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) announced that the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of this edition of the World Test Championship would be played at

in June 2023. That final saw Australia win by 209 runs, thus becoming the only team to win all ICC titles.

Format

The tournament was played over two years, with 69 matches over 27 series scheduled for the league stage from which the top two teams advanced to a final. Each team was scheduled to play six series, with three at home and three away. Each series consisted of two to five Test matches. Each participant played between 12 and 22 matches. Each match was scheduled for a duration of five days.

Points system

The points system was changed from the previous edition. In this edition, 12 points would be available each match regardless of how many matches there were in a series. A win was worth all 12 points, a tie was worth 6 points each, a draw was worth 4 points each, and a loss was worth 0 points. Teams failing to meet the required

over rate An over rate is the average number of Over (cricket), overs bowled per hour by the Bowling (cricket), bowling team in cricket. When calculated by Test match officials, allowances are made for Dismissal (cricket), wickets taken (2 mins per wicket) ...

would have one point deducted for each over they were behind at the end of a match, except in cases where they bowled their opponents out in 60 overs in an innings, or 120 overs over the course of the match. As in the previous edition, teams were ranked in the league table based on percentage of total points won out of total points contested.

Participants

Nine full members of the ICC participated in the competition: * * * * * * * * * The three full members of the ICC who did not participate were

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Broadcasters

Schedule

The schedule for the World Test Championship was announced by the

(ICC) on 20 June 2018, as part of the 2018–2023 Future Tours Programme. Rather than being a full

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

in which everyone played everyone else equally, each team played only six of the other eight, as in the previous cycle.

Prize money

The International Cricket Council declared a total prize money pool of US$3.8 million for the tournament. The prize money was allocated according to the performance of the team as follows: The winning team also received the ICC Test Championship Mace.

League table

* The top two teams qualified for the

. * Points deductions:

League stage

2021

Pataudi Trophy (England v India)

West Indies v Pakistan

2021–22

Sobers–Tissera Trophy The Sobers–Tissera Trophy is a cricket trophy, awarded to the winners of Test series between West Indies and Sri Lanka. It was first awarded following the 2015–16 series between the sides. The trophy is named after Sir Garfield Sobers and Mic ...
(Sri Lanka v West Indies)

India v New Zealand

Bangladesh v Pakistan

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...
(Australia v England)

Freedom Trophy (South Africa v India)

New Zealand v Bangladesh

New Zealand v South Africa

India v Sri Lanka

Benaud-Qadir Trophy (Pakistan v Australia)

Richards–Botham Trophy (West Indies v England)

South Africa v Bangladesh

2022

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka

England v New Zealand

West Indies v Bangladesh

Warne–Muralitharan Trophy The Warne–Muralidaran Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Australia national cricket team, Australia–Sri Lanka national cricket team, Sri Lanka Test cricket series from 2007–08 season onwards. The trophy is named after the two leading ...
(Sri Lanka v Australia)

Sri Lanka v Pakistan

Basil D'Oliveira Trophy (England v South Africa)

2022–23

Frank Worrell Trophy The Frank Worrell Trophy is awarded to the winner of the West Indies–Australia Test match series in cricket. The trophy is named after Frank Worrell who was the first black captain of the West Indies. It was first awarded at the end of the 1 ...
(Australia v West Indies)

Pakistan v England

Bangladesh v India

Australia v South Africa

Pakistan v New Zealand

Border–Gavaskar Trophy The Border–Gavaskar Trophy (colloquially known as BGT) is an International Test cricket championship played between India and Australia. The series is named after distinguished former captains, Australia's Allan Border and India's Sunil Gavask ...
(India v Australia)

Sir Vivian Richards Trophy (South Africa v West Indies)

New Zealand v Sri Lanka

Final

Statistics

Individual statistics

The top 5 players in each category are listed.

Most runs

Most wickets

Most dismissals for a wicket-keeper

Most catches for a player

Highest individual score

Best bowling figures in an innings

Best bowling figures in a match

Best batting averages

Best bowling averages

Team statistics

Highest team totals

Lowest team totals

Highest successful run-chases

Final standings

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Tournament home on ESPNcricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:ICC World Test Championship, 2021-2023 2021 in cricket 2022 in cricket 2023 in cricket Test cricket competitions 2021-2023