ICC World Test Championship
| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
|---|---|
| Format | Test cricket |
| First tournament | N/A |
| Next tournament | 2019–21 |
| Number of teams | 9 |
The ICC World Test Championship will be a league competition for Test cricket run by the International Cricket Council (ICC), starting in 2019. It is intended to become the premier championship for Test cricket.
The original plans to hold the competition in 2013, replacing the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, were abandoned. It was re-scheduled for June 2017, with a second Test championship to take place in India in Feb-March 2021. The top four ranked teams on December 31, 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 cancelled and the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy was reinstated.
In October 2017, the ICC announced that a Test league had been agreed 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. The league is due to start after the 2019 Cricket World Cup, with full details yet to be decided.
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 was one of the main brains behind this proposal.
The idea of a Test championship was considered by the ICC Chief Executives' Committee at a meeting at their headquarters in Dubai 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. As expected, the ICC approved the plan and said that the first tournament would be held in England and Wales 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 Test cricket nations (Australia, India, England, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh) participating. After the league stage the top four teams will take part in the play-offs, with the final determining the Test cricket champions.
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