ICC confirms points system, schedule for WTC

The International Cricket Council has moved to simplify the points system for the second edition of the World Test Championship, which starts next month when England host India.

The Test series each of the nine competing nations will play in the two-year cycle was also confirmed, with each country to play three home and three away series.

Test wins will now be worth 12 points each, irrespective of the number of matches played in the series.

Previously, each series, whether a two-Test or five-Test battle, was worth the same number of points.

The change means Australia's first engagement in the new WTC cycle, the five-Test Vodafone Ashes series against England, will see 60 points up for grabs.

But teams will continue to be ranked in order of the percentage of points won.

That means if, hypothetically, Australia and England draw the Ashes 2-2, they would both have 28 points, and a percentage of points won of 46.67 per cent.

A team that wins a three-Test series 2-0 would also have 28 points, but would be ranked higher with a percentage of points won of 77.78 per cent.

Australia also play a one-off Test against Afghanistan this summer, in Hobart from November 27, but that will not form part of the WTC.

New Zealand were crowned the first Test world champions after a thrilling eight-wicket win against India in last month's final in Southampton.

ICC acting chief executive Geoff Allardice said the changes had been made to the points system with the 'percentage of points won' idea introduced following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We received feedback that the previous points system needed to be simplified. The Cricket Committee took this into consideration when proposing a new, standardised points system for each match.

"It maintained the principle of ensuring that all matches in a WTC series count towards a team's standing, while accommodating series varying in length between two Tests and five Tests.

"During the pandemic we had to change to ranking teams on the points table using the percentage of available points won by each team, since all series could not be completed.

"This helped us determine the finalists and we were able to complete the championship within the scheduled time-frame.

"This method also allowed us to compare the relative performance of teams at any time, regardless of how many matches they had played."

The second WTC will begin with England's home series against India, which starts at Trent Bridge on August 4. Teams will continue to be docked one championship point for each over they are short of the over-rate.

Australia's WTC cycle will include this summer's Ashes, and they are scheduled to tour Pakistan in February-March next year before a mid-year visit to Sri Lanka where they have not won a Test series since Nathan Lyon's international debut in 2011.

That will be followed by home Tests against the West Indies and South Africa next summer, following a home T20 World Cup, with the Proteas set to play their first Boxing Day Test in Australia since 2008.

Australia's WTC matches will conclude with a tour of India in February-March 2023, before the next WTC final will be played later that year at a venue yet to be determined.

Australia's World Test Championship fixtures
(timings as per the ICC's Future Tours Programme)

December 2021 – January 2022: v England at home

February-March 2022: v Pakistan away

June-July 2022: v Sri Lanka away

November-December 2022: v West Indies at home

December 2022 – January 2023: v South Africa at home

February-March 2023: v India away

Additional reporting by PA