2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship
The 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship was the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship of Test cricket. It started on 1 August 2019 with the first Test of the 2019 Ashes series, and finished with the Final at the Rose Bowl, Southampton in June 2021.
| Dates | 1 August 2019 – 23 June 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | Test cricket |
| Tournament format(s) | League and Final |
| Host(s) | various |
| Champions | New Zealand (1st title) |
| Runners-up | India |
| Participants | 9 |
| Matches | 61 |
| Most runs | Marnus Labuschagne (1675) |
| Most wickets | Ravichandran Ashwin (71) |
| Official website | icc-cricket |
It came nearly a decade after the International Cricket Council (ICC) first approved the idea for a World Test Championship in 2010, and following two cancelled attempts to hold the inaugural competition in 2013 and 2017.
It featured nine of the twelve Test playing nations, each of whom was scheduled to play a Test series against six of the other eight teams. Each series consisted of between two and five matches, so although all teams were to play six series (three at home and three away), they were not scheduled to play the same number of Tests. Each team were able to score a maximum of 120 points from each series and the two teams with the most points at the end of the league stage would contest the final. In the case of a draw or a tie in the final, the two teams playing the final would be declared joint champions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the Championship, with several rounds of matches being postponed or cancelled. In November 2020, the ICC announced that the finalists would be decided by percentage of points earned.
Some of the Test series in this Championship were part of a longer ongoing series, such as the 2019 Ashes series. Also, some of these nine teams would play additional Test matches during this period which were not part of this Championship, as part of the ICC Future Tours Programme for 2018–23, mainly to give games to the three Test playing sides not taking part in this competition. On 29 July 2019, the ICC officially launched the World Test Championship.
On 2 February 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia postponed their away series against South Africa, resulting in a guaranteed berth in the final for New Zealand. On 6 March 2021, India also confirmed their berth for the final, after beating England by 3–1 in a home Test series. The final saw New Zealand win by eight wickets, securing their second global cricket title after their 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy win.