The ICC World Test Championship, often shortened to WTC, is a biennial

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tournament organised by 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 ...

. It is played over two years and is the premier championship for

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 ...

. The winners of the tournament are awarded the Test Mace, which was previously held by the leader of the Test Championship.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

are the current champions, having defeated

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 ...

in the 2025 final at

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

. WTC league games are organized by the host nation's cricket board, whereas the final is organized directly by the ICC. The inaugural ICC World Test Championship started with the 2019 Ashes series and finished with

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 ...

lifting the trophy after defeating India in the final in June 2021. The second ICC World Test Championship started on 4 August 2021 with the England–India series and finished with Australia lifting the trophy after defeating India in the final in June 2023. The third ICC World Test Championship started on 16 June 2023 with the 2023 Ashes series and concluded with South Africa defeating Australia in the final.

History

This championship was first proposed in 1996 by Clive Lloyd, former cricketer and then manager of the West Indies team. Later, 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. In July 2010 ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat 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 2013 ICC Champions Trophy 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

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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

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

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and

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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 (

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 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

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, and

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) 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 eight 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. 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 2013 ICC Champions Trophy instead, the tournament that the Test Championship was intended to replace. This drew widespread criticism; both Greg Chappell and

Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa national cricket team, South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed Captain (cricket), captain of the So ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that this postponement was a blow to Lord's, which had been expected to host the final. At the ICC Chief Executives' meeting in April 2012, it was confirmed that the ICC Champions Trophy 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 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...

is the premier event for 50-over cricket. The final would possibly have followed the historical timeless test 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 2017 ICC Champions Trophy 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.

Tournament summary

2019–2021 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 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 to 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.

2021–2023 tournament

The WTC 2021–23 cycle began in August 2021 with Pataudi Trophy (5 matches series between India and England). The

officially announced the full programme with a new points system. Australia qualified for the final by winning the 3rd Test Match of the 2022–23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India qualified after Sri Lanka failed to win the first match of their series in New Zealand, qualifying for the final for the second consecutive time. The final was played from 7 June to 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 ...

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, England, with Australia emerging as champions after defeating India by 209 runs. This was India's second consecutive defeat at the WTC final.

2023–2025 tournament

The WTC 2023–25 cycle began with the 1st Ashes Test on 16 June 2023. The

officially announced that the WTC final will be played at

in the summer of 2025. In the final, South Africa defeated Australia by 5 wickets to win their maiden championship. This was also their second ICC trophy after

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Results

Team performances

Overview

*Source: CricInfo ;Key: An overview of all the Test playing nations' performances:

Tournament records

References

External links

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