Test
matches are always interesting ! – the first time I saw a Test match was Pongal
1975 when the mighty Clive Lloyd’s WI were beaten at Chepauk. From tomorrow starts the final of ICC World
Test Championship at Lords.
Pat Cummins-led Australia will be trying hard to retain the mace that became theirs after defeating India in the previous edition of the World Test Championship Final at the Oval in June 2023. This time India is not in the finals – it is a determined South Africa aiming for their first ICC trophy in over two decades, with Temba Bavuma leading the charge.
Before you read further – can you identify SA Capt - Frank Mitchell and Australian counterpart - Syd Gregory ??
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is a biennial cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is played over two years and is the premier championship for Test cricket. 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 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 will
conclude with the final in the northern hemisphere summer of 2025. The tournament consisted of 69 matches played
between nine teams across 27 series in the league stage. The top two teams in
the points table at the end of the league stage are competing now at the final at Lord's, London. Each team played
six series, three at home and three away, with each series containing two to
five Test matches.
You can draw your own inferences looking at the table – SA played the least (12) and yet in the finals. England played the max (22); Australia and India played 19 apiece.
The fewer games a relatively strong team plays, the less chance there is of that precious points-per-Test ratio getting diluted. South Africa began this cycle with a tour to New Zealand – a C-Team, they were duly routed in two Tests while the best players in the country stayed at home to take part in the SA20, yet have now marched all the way to the final off the back of seven wins in a row. The stitched together team left New Zealand with pride intact – and a clear message that several of those players may not play another Test
Cricketing World waits to see which team plays better and are crowned World Test Champions.
Frank Mitchell and Syd Gregory mentioned earlier were the rival captains in that Test at Lord played 113 years ago - the 1912 season that was ruined by the weather. A soggy spring was followed by one of the wettest summers since records began to be kept in 1766. Still conceptually, the triangular tournament of 1912 was years ahead of its time. The idea was sound - a competition involving the only three Test-playing countries of the time, meeting each other three times - England, Australia and South Africa.
10.6.2025
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