World Test Championship: Everything on ICC’s Test ‘World Cup’

The World Test Championship is basically the World Cup for Test Cricket. But, unlike the ODI World Cup that takes place every four years - it won’t be an exclusive tournament.Instead, it will comprise a numbers of Test matches played over a period of two years, with a final match at the end to decide the eventual winner. The first edition of the championship will begin in August 2019 and run till June 2021.ICC first floated the idea in 2009. It was approved in 2010, with plans of hosting the first edition in 2013. But the tournament got postponed to 2017. It once again got cancelled in 2017 and finally, it was decided that the Test Championship will take off in 2019 after the World Cup in England and Wales.Over the years, Test cricket has been losing its sheen, with audience numbers dwindling steadily.The longest format of cricket finds few takers among the younger generation, who are more attuned to the action-packed T20s. So, ICC decided to make bilateral Test series more competitive and engaging.After experimenting with day-night Tests, ICC believed a global tournament with a title at stake would give more meaning to bilateral Test series.And with both ODI and T20I formats having their own global tournaments, it was high time that the oldest format of the game also had one to prominently identify the World Champions in that particular format.The Test Championship gets underway with the first Ashes Test on 1 August 2019 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The Ashes will be the opening series for the championship.The month of August will also see two Tests between New Zealand and hosts Sri Lanka and two more Tests when India travel to West Indies, which will also be part of the World Test Championship.Out of the 12 Test-playing nations, only the top nine sides will be involved in the competition. These nine teams will play six series each, three at home and three away. The oppositions have already been decided on mutual arrangement and every side will face only six of the other eight sides.These series will consist of two to five Test matches – as agreed by the respective cricket boards and depending on the FTP (Future Tours Program).This means that it is not necessary that all sides will play equal number of Test matches during this two-year cycle. To ensure uniformity, every series will have 120 points riding on it, irrespective of the number Test matches being played.So, over the two-year cycle, a side can ended up with a maximum of 720 points. At the end of the league round, the two sides with the most points would play the final in England in June 2021.As mentioned earlier, it is not necessary for the sides to play equal number of Tests during the Championship. In that regard, there will be a mechanism to maintain uniformity.Keeping this in mind, it has been decided that every series will carry 120 points which will be equally divided among the number of Tests in a series. So, points will be awarded for Test results and not series outcomes.This means that in a five-match series, 24 points will available for each Test. For a four-match series, 30 points will be allotted for a Test, and for three-match and two-match series a maximum of 40 points and 60 points will be up for grabs for every Test.Meanwhile, a tie will be worth half the points for a win and a draw will earn a third of the points for a win.In the early stages of planning, it was decided that final of the Championship will be a Timeless Test. But later, the plans changed. Now, it has been decided that if the final ends in a draw or tie the team which has finished at the top of the table after the end of the league stage will be declared the champion. ICC’s Test ranking will have no say in it.The three teams who won’t be part of the championship are – Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland. Apart from Zimbabwe, who have been suspended by ICC last week, Ireland and Afghanistan will continue with their usual Test schedule and will also compete against the championship teams according to ICC’s Future Tour Programme.The outcome of these matches won’t have any bearing on the Test championships.Apart from Test matches involving Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland, two Test matches between New Zealand and England in New Zealand in November this year won’t be part of the Test Championship but will is part of ICC’s FTP.The concept of a Test championship has been welcomed by fans and members of the cricketing fraternity. ICC have been praised for doing their bit to promote the oldest format of the game.But the idea is not without its fair share of criticism.One of the biggest drawbacks is how the teams, instead of playing all eight teams, have the liberty to play only six teams, which again they will decide. In such a scenario, many teams might opt not to play against higher ranked sides to have a better chance of qualifying for the final.Apart from this the whole concept of home and away Test goes for a toss with teams not playing equal number of home and away matches. Thus, teams who are playing more home matches surely have an advantage compared to one who are travelling more.India will begin their campaign in the World Test Championship with a two-match away series against West Indies. After that, they play South Africa for three Tests and Bangladesh for two Tests at home by the end of the year.Next year, in February, India go to New Zealand for two Test matches before a long break. Then, in the end of 2020, India again travel Down Under for the usual four-match series against Australia.Team India’s league stage ends with a marathon five-match series against England at home.August-September 2019: West Indies (away) | 2 TestsOctober 2019: South Africa (home) | 3 TestsNovember 2019: Bangladesh (home) | 2 TestsFebruary 2020: New Zealand (away) | 2 TestsNovember 2020-January 2021: Australia (away) | 4 TestsJanuary-March 2021: England (home) | 5 Tests

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World Test Championship: Everything on ICC’s Test ‘World Cup’

Here’s a guide to the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship.