The cricket Council in England and Wales (ECB) is ready to complete an agreement that will allow it to organize the final of the World Test (WTC) Championship for the next three editions that runs until 2031.
The ECB reportedly received a verbal confirmation from ICC, the report added. India has shown interest in hosting the WTC finals and the matter was discussed at several recent ICC meetings. As a preferred choice, however, England – renowned for its ability to draw considerable crowds for neutral test matches – appeared.
England has already hosted the first three WTC finals, including The ongoing finals of 2025 between South Africa and Australia in Lord’sLondon. The inauguration finals, attacked between India and New Zealand, took place in Southampton in 2021 under the COVID-19 limitation.
The final of 2023 between India and Australia took place in an oval in London. The current edition in Lord’s recorded full houses in the first three days and underlined the growing popularity and importance of accessories.
With this new agreement, England is ready to host the first six WTC finals.
The timing of the final – traditionally staged in June – was a factor in the benefit of England. The early English summer provides an ideal window in a crowded global cricket calendar to appear a highly profile match.
Why not anywhere else?
Place and planning, however, were not without criticism. In 2023, the former Indian Captain Rohit Sharma challenged both the place and the timing of the finals and demanded greater flexibility.
“Why after the IPL finals? Why can’t March be?
“You can play it anytime of the year and anywhere in the world, not just in England.”
Before the finals 2025, Australian captain Pat cummins suggested to be granted rights to host Add another layer to the ongoing debate to the previous edition winners.
Meanwhile, there was also a challenge to expand the WTC finals to a three -capable series. In particular, the former Indian captain Virt Kohli defended such a format back in 2021. Steve Smith spoke before the current finals, said Supported the idea in principle, when recognizing planning problems.
“I didn’t think too much about it, but yeah, maybe it would be a series of three matches. Good luck to fit into the calendar, which is already quite packed. But if it could be done, it would be quite cool,” Smith said.
The next edition of the World Test Championship will start on June 20, when England will host India in the first series of five games in Headingley, Leeds.
Published:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
14 June 2025
