The ICC’s World Test Championship has brought added context and drama to bilateral Test series over a two-year cycle. It is the pinnacle of red-ball cricket, determining the best team in the sport, and has already produced a pair of enthralling finals, with New Zealand triumphing in 2021 and South Africa in 2025.
The WTC was designed to reduce the number of tests that have little context, with each series having a set number of matches. As a result, wealthier countries like England and India often play series that include four or five Tests, while poorer nations may compete with fewer fixtures.
In order to address this imbalance, the WTC uses a points system to rank teams based on how many points they win or lose in a given series. A victory is worth 12 points, a loss gets you eight and a draw nabs you six. Teams are also awarded bonus points if they win a series, but can lose them if they fail to reach the required winning percentage in a particular match or fail to complete their allotted number of innings.
This method has worked well, although some have complained that a match-by-match system could lead to certain tests carrying more weight than others. For example, some would hate to see the Ashes reduced to a three-match series because it would mean fewer Tests and less context for neutral fans. There is a good chance that this debate will persist for some time, but at the moment the system is proving a success.