| Dates | 1 August 2019 – 23 June 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | Test cricket |
| Tournament format(s) | League and Final |
| 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 |
The2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship was the inaugural edition of theICC World Test Championship ofTest cricket.[1] It started on 1 August 2019 with thefirst Test of the2019 Ashes series,[2] and it finished with thefinal at theRose Bowl, Southampton in June 2021.
It came nearly a decade after theInternational 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,[3][4] 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.[5] In the case of a draw or a tie in the final, the two teams playing the final would be declared joint champions.[5] However, theCOVID-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.[6][7]
Some of the Test series in this Championship were part of a longer ongoing series, such as the2019 Ashes series.[5] Also, some of these nine teams would play additional Test matches during this period which were not part of this Championship, as part of theICC Future Tours Programme for 2018–23, mainly to give games to the three Test playing sides not taking part in this competition.[5] On 29 July 2019, the ICC officially launched the World Test Championship.[8]
On 2 February 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia postponed theiraway series against South Africa, resulting in a guaranteed berth in the final for New Zealand.[9][10] On 6 March 2021, India also confirmed their berth for the final, after beating England by 3–1 in ahome Test series.[11] The final saw New Zealand win by eight wickets, securing their second global cricket title after their2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy win.[12]
The tournament was played over two years. Each team were scheduled to play six other opponents, three at home and three away. Each series consisted of between two and five Test matches. Therefore, all participants did not play the same number of Tests, but played the same number of series. At the end of the league stage the top two teams played in the final.[13] Each match is scheduled for a duration of five days.
The ICC decided that the same number of points would be available from each series, regardless of series length, so that countries that played fewer Tests were not disadvantaged. It also decided that points would not be awarded for series results, but for match results only. These would be split equally between all the matches in the series, regardless of whether or not a match was adead rubber,[14] so that every match counted.[15] In a five-match series, therefore, 20% of the points would be available each match, while in a two-match series, 50% of the points would be available each match.
Therefore, depending on whether the series is 2, 3, 4 or 5 matches long, the number of points awarded for a single match win would be a half, a third, a quarter, or a fifth of the maximum possible from the series. The ICC also decided that a tie should be worth half of a win and that a draw should be worth a third of a win.[16] This all meant that after each match, a side could be awarded a half, a third, a quarter, a fifth, a sixth, an eighth, a ninth, a tenth, a twelfth or a fifteenth of the total points available from the series, depending on the result and how many matches the series happened to consist of. Ultimately, this meant a figure for the total points available from the series needs to be picked very carefully, as not many numbers give allintegers when split into all these different fractions (360 does). Being ahighly composite number, when 120 was split into all these fractions, an integer was obtained in all cases except one – the points awarded for a draw in a 3-match series should be 131⁄3 (a third of a third of 120), but the1⁄3 had been dropped.[citation needed]
Each series would therefore carry a maximum of 120 points with points distributed as follows:
| Matches in series | Points for a win | Points for a tie | Points for a draw | Points for a defeat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 60 | 30 | 20 | 0 |
| 3 | 40 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
| 4 | 30 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
| 5 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 0 |
A team that was behind the requiredover rate at the end of a match would have two competition points deducted for each over it was behind.[18] In January 2020, South Africa became the first team to be docked World Test Championship points, after a slow over-rate in thefourth Test against England.[19]
Nine full members of the ICC participated in the competition:
Since each team played only six of the eight possible opponents, the ICC announced that India and Pakistan would not play against each other in the first and second editions of the tournament due to the ongoing political issues between the two countries.[citation needed]
The three full members of the ICC who did not participate wereAfghanistan,Ireland andZimbabwe. These were the threelowest ranked full members of the ICC. They had been included in the ICC Future Tours Programme and played a number of Test matches during this period against Championship participants and each other[a] but these did not have bearing on the Championship.[b]
The schedule for the World Test Championship was announced by the ICC on 20 June 2018, as part of the 2018–2023 Future Tours Programme.[20]
Rather than being a fullround-robin tournament in which everyone played everyone else equally, each team played only six of the other eight.
| Home \ Away | AUS | BAN | ENG | IND | NZL | PAK | RSA | SRI | WIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | — | — | — | 1–2 [4] | 3–0 [3] | 2–0 [2] | — | — | — |
Bangladesh  | Cancelled [2] | — | — | — | Cancelled [2] | — | — | — | 0–2 [2] |
England  | 2–2 [5] | — | — | — | — | 1–0 [3] | — | — | 2–1 [3] |
| India | — | 2–0 [2] | 3–1 [4] | — | — | — | 3–0 [3] | — | |
| New Zealand | — | — | — | 2–0 [2] | — | 2–0 [2] | — | — | 2–0 [2] |
Pakistan  | — | 1–0 [1]* | — | — | — | — | 2–0 [2] | 1–0 [2] | — |
South Africa  | Cancelled [3] | — | 1–3 [4] | — | — | — | — | 2–0 [2] | — |
Sri Lanka  | — | 1–0 [2] | 0–2 [2] | — | 1–1 [2] | — | — | — | — |
West Indies  | — | — | — | 0–2 [2] | — | — | 0–2 [2] | 0–0 [2] | — |
Therefore, the total number of matches played by each team (home and away) in this tournament, and the two countries that each side did not face in this tournament, were as follows. (Note: This was not the total Test matches played by each team during this period, as some countries did play further matches during this period which were not part of this Championship, as part of the ICC Future Tours Programme for 2018–23. Some of these may be against the opponents they did not play in this Championship.)
| Team | Scheduled matches | Not scheduled to play against | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Home | Away | |||
| Australia | 19 | 9 | 10 | Sri Lanka | West Indies |
| Bangladesh | 12 | 6 | 6 | England | South Africa |
| England | 21 | 11 | 10 | Bangladesh | New Zealand |
| India | 17 | 9 | 8 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
| New Zealand | 13 | 6 | 7 | England | South Africa |
| Pakistan | 13 | 6 | 7 | India | West Indies |
| South Africa | 16 | 9 | 7 | Bangladesh | New Zealand |
| Sri Lanka | 12 | 6 | 6 | Australia | India |
| West Indies | 13 | 6 | 7 | Australia | Pakistan |
All the series were mutually agreed between the two nations involved;[20] this had led to allegations that the schedule has been agreed based on what would provide the biggest television audiences, and therefore television receipts,[21] rather than selecting an even spread of teams.
Since each team played a different set of opponents, they can be considered as having an easier or harder schedules.
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted on international cricket fixtures, including matches in the Championship. In March 2020, the second Test matchbetween Pakistan and Bangladesh was postponed due to the pandemic.[22] Later the same month, the two-match seriesbetween Sri Lanka and England was also postponed.[23] The following month sawAustralia's tour to Bangladesh and theWest Indies tour to England being postponed.[24][25] In June 2020, the two-match series betweenBangladesh and New Zealand and the three-match series betweenSri Lanka and Bangladesh were both postponed.[26][27] South Africa'stour of the West Indies was postponed, after the fixtures clashed with the West Indies rescheduledtour to England.[28][29]
On 29 July 2020, the ICC confirmed that their attention had moved to the fixtures in the World Test Championship, with their priority on rescheduling the six Test series that had been postponed.[30] The ICC ultimately accepted several series would not take place as part of the Championship and changed the points system to account for the variation in the number of series played per team.[6][7]
The International Cricket Council declared a total prize money pool of US$3.8 million for the tournament. The prize money was allocated according to the performance of the team as follows:[31]
| Position | Prize money (US$) |
|---|---|
| Winner | $1,600,000 |
| Runner-up | $800,000 |
| Third | $450,000 |
| Fourth | $350,000 |
| Fifth | $200,000 |
| Sixth | $100,000 |
| Seventh | $100,000 |
| Eighth | $100,000 |
| Ninth | $100,000 |
| Total | $3,800,000 |
The winning team also got theICC Test Championship Mace, previously presented to the top team inICC Men's Test Team Rankings at the April cutoff-date of a year between 2003 and 2019.
| Pos. | Team | Series | Matches | Con. | Pts. | ± | Pct. | RpW Ratio | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | D | P | W | L | D | T | ||||||||||
| 1 | India | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 720 | 520 | 0 | 72.2 | 1.577 | |||
| 2 | New Zealand | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 600 | 420 | 0 | 70.0 | 1.281 | |||
| 3 | Australia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 480 | 332 | 4[c] | 69.2 | 1.392 | |||
| 4 | England | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 720 | 442 | 0 | 61.4 | 1.120 | |||
| 5 | South Africa | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 600 | 264 | 6[d] | 44.0 | 0.787 | |||
| 6 | Pakistan | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 660 | 286 | 0 | 43.3 | 0.822 | |||
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 720 | 200 | 0 | 27.8 | 0.729 | |||
| 8 | West Indies | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 720 | 194 | 6[e] | 26.9 | 0.661 | |||
| 9 | Bangladesh | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 420 | 20 | 0 | 4.8 | 0.601 | |||
2–6 October 2019 Scorecard |
v |
India won by 203 runs Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium,Visakhapatnam Points:India 40, South Africa 0 |
10–14 October 2019 Scorecard |
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India won by an innings and 137 runs Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium,Pune Points:India 40, South Africa 0 |
19–23 October 2019 Scorecard |
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India won by an innings and 202 runs JSCA International Stadium Complex,Ranchi Points:India 40, South Africa 0 |
v |
v |
v |
16–20 January 2020 Scorecard |
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England won by an innings and 53 runs St George's Park Cricket Ground,Port Elizabeth Points:England 30, South Africa 0 |
The second match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] Due to a busy schedule, the match would be postponed until the 2021–22 season and outside the Championship season.[38]
7–11 February 2020 Scorecard |
v |
Pakistan won by an innings and 44 runs Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium,Rawalpindi Points:Pakistan 60, Bangladesh 0 |
This series did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This series was originally scheduled for June 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[39]
This series did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
11–15 December 2020 Scorecard |
v |
New Zealand won by an innings and 12 runs Basin Reserve,Wellington Points:New Zealand 60, West Indies 0 |
v |
26–30 December 2020 Scorecard |
v |
South Africa won by an innings and 45 runs Centurion Park,Centurion Points:South Africa 60, Sri Lanka 0 |
This series was originally scheduled for March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[40]
This was originally a three-match series scheduled for January 2021.
3–7 February 2021 Scorecard |
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West Indies won by 3 wickets Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium,Chattogram Points:West Indies 60, Bangladesh 0 |
11–15 February 2021 Scorecard |
v |
West Indies won by 17 runs Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium,Dhaka Points:West Indies 60, Bangladesh 0 |
This was originally a five-match series.[41]
v |
This series did not take place as originally scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and could not be a part of the Championship season.[42]
This series originally comprised three Test matches and was scheduled for July–August 2020, then postponed to October 2020, but was rescheduled again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
29 April–3 May 2021 Scorecard |
v |
Sri Lanka won by 209 runs Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Kandy Points:Sri Lanka 60, Bangladesh 0 |
This series was scheduled to be played in July 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
10–14 June 2021 Scorecard |
v |
South Africa won by an innings and 63 runs Daren Sammy Cricket Ground,Gros Islet Points:South Africa 60, West Indies 0 |
18–22 June 2021 Scorecard |
v |
South Africa won by 158 runs Daren Sammy Cricket Ground,Gros Islet Points:South Africa 60, West Indies −6[33] |
v |
| Pos. | Team | Prize money (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | $1,600,000 |
| 2 | India | $800,000 |
| 3 | Australia | $450,000 |
| 4 | England | $350,000 |
| 5 | South Africa | $200,000 |
| 6 | Pakistan | $100,000 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | |
| 8 | West Indies | |
| 9 | Bangladesh |
The top 5 players in each category are listed.
| Runs | Batsman | Mat | Inns | NO | Ave | HS | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,675 | Marnus Labuschagne | 13 | 23 | 0 | 72.82 | 215 | 5 | 9 |
| 1,660 | Joe Root | 20 | 37 | 2 | 47.43 | 228 | 3 | 8 |
| 1,341 | Steve Smith | 13 | 22 | 1 | 63.85 | 211 | 4 | 7 |
| 1,334 | Ben Stokes | 17 | 32 | 3 | 46.00 | 176 | 6 | |
| 1,159 | Virat Kohli | 18 | 30 | 3 | 42.92 | 115 | 3 | 6 |
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[43] | ||||||||
| Wkts | Bowler | Mat | Inns | Runs | Overs | BBI | BBM | Avg | 5WI | 10WM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 14 | 26 | 1,444 | 549.4 | 7/145 | 9/207 | 20.33 | 4 | 0 |
| 70 | Pat Cummins | 14 | 28 | 1,472 | 555.3 | 5/28 | 7/69 | 21.02 | 1 | 0 |
| 69 | Stuart Broad | 17 | 32 | 1,386 | 499.3 | 6/31 | 10/67 | 20.08 | 2 | 1 |
| 56 | Tim Southee | 11 | 22 | 1,166 | 431.3 | 5/32 | 9/110 | 20.82 | 3 | 0 |
| Nathan Lyon | 14 | 27 | 1,757 | 630.5 | 6/49 | 10/118 | 31.37 | 4 | 1 | |
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[44] | ||||||||||
| Dismissals | Player | Mat | Inns | Catches | Stumping | BBI | Dis/Inn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | Tim Paine | 14 | 28 | 63 | 2 | 5 | 2.321 | |
| 50 | Quinton de Kock | 13 | 22 | 48 | 2 | 6 | 2.272 | |
| Jos Buttler | 18 | 25 | 49 | 1 | 4 | 2.000 | ||
| 48 | BJ Watling | 11 | 22 | 47 | 1 | 5 | 2.181 | |
| 41 | Rishabh Pant | 12 | 24 | 35 | 6 | 4 | 1.708 | |
| Last updated: 11 June 2023[45] | ||||||||
| Dismissals | Player | Mat | Inns | Catches | Dis/Inn | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Joe Root | 20 | 38 | 3 | 0.894 | |||
| 27 | Steve Smith | 13 | 26 | 4 | 1.038 | |||
| 25 | Ben Stokes | 17 | 33 | 5 | 0.757 | |||
| 23 | Ajinkya Rahane | 18 | 36 | 3 | 0.638 | |||
| 21 | Ross Taylor | 12 | 24 | 3 | 0.875 | |||
| Last updated: 11 June 2023[46] | ||||||||
| Runs | Batsman | Balls | 4s | 6s | Opposition | Venue | Match date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 335* | David Warner | 418 | 39 | 1 | Pakistan | Adelaide Oval,Adelaide | 29 November 2019 | |
| 267 | Zak Crawley | 393 | 34 | The Rose Bowl,Southampton | 21 August 2020 | |||
| 254* | Virat Kohli | 336 | 33 | 2 | South Africa | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium,Pune | 10 October 2019 | |
| 251 | Kane Williamson | 412 | 34 | West Indies | Seddon Park,Hamilton | 3 December 2020 | ||
| 244 | Dimuth Karunaratne | 437 | 26 | 0 | Bangladesh | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Pallekele | 21 April 2021 | |
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[47] | ||||||||
| Figure | Bowler | Overs | Mdns | Econ | Opposition | Venue | Match date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/137 | Lasith Embuldeniya | 42.0 | 6 | 3.26 | England | Galle International Stadium,Galle | 22 January 2021 | |
| 7/145 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 46.2 | 11 | 3.12 | South Africa | ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium,Visakhapatnam | 2 October 2019 | |
| 6/27 | Jasprit Bumrah | 12.1 | 3 | 2.21 | West Indies | Sabina Park,Kingston | 30 August 2019 | |
| 6/31 | Stuart Broad | 14.0 | 4 | 2.21 | Old Trafford,Manchester | 24 July 2020 | ||
| 6/38 | Axar Patel | 21.4 | 6 | 1.75 | England | Narendra Modi Stadium,Ahmedabad | 24 February 2021 | |
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[48] | ||||||||
| Figure | Bowler | Overs | Mdns | Opposition | Venue | Match date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/70 | Axar Patel | 36.4 | 9 | England | Narendra Modi Stadium,Ahmedabad | 25 February 2021 | ||
| 11/117 | Kyle Jamieson | 41 | 14 | Pakistan | Hagley Oval,Christchurch | 3 January 2021 | ||
| 11/178 | Praveen Jayawickrama | 64 | 17 | Bangladesh | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Kandy | 29 April 2021 | ||
| 10/67 | Stuart Broad | 22.1 | 5 | West Indies | Old Trafford,Manchester | 24 July 2020 | ||
| 10/114 | Hasan Ali | 31.4 | 4 | South Africa | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium,Rawalpindi | 4 February 2021 | ||
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[49] | ||||||||
| Average | Batsman | Matches | Innings | Runs | HS | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72.82 | Marnus Labuschagne | 13 | 23 | 1,675 | 215 | 5 | 9 |
| 66.57 | Babar Azam | 10 | 17 | 932 | 143 | 4 | 5 |
| 63.85 | Steve Smith | 13 | 22 | 1,341 | 211 | 6 | |
| 61.20 | Kane Williamson | 10 | 16 | 918 | 251 | 3 | 2 |
| 60.77 | Rohit Sharma | 12 | 19 | 1,094 | 212 | 4 | |
| Qualification: Minimum 10 innings Last updated: 23 June 2021[50] | |||||||
| Average | Bowler | Matches | Wkts | Runs | Balls | BBI | BBM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.59 | Axar Patel | 3 | 27 | 286 | 766 | 6/38 | 11/70 |
| 12.53 | Kyle Jamieson | 7 | 43 | 539 | 1,478 | 6/48 | 11/117 |
| 17.79 | Ishant Sharma | 12 | 39 | 694 | 1,496 | 5/22 | 9/78 |
| 18.55 | Umesh Yadav | 7 | 27 | 538 | 962 | 5/53 | 8/82 |
| 19.51 | James Anderson | 12 | 39 | 761 | 1,991 | 6/40 | 7/63 |
| Qualification: Minimum 500 deliveries bowled Last updated: 23 June 2021[51] | |||||||
| Score | Team | Overs | RR | Inns | Opposition | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 659/6d | New Zealand | 158.5 | 4.14 | 2 | Pakistan | Hagley Oval,Christchurch | 3 January 2021 |
| 648/8d | Sri Lanka | 179 | 3.62 | 2 | Bangladesh | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Pallekele | 21 April 2021 |
| 621 | South Africa | 142.1 | 4.36 | 2 | Sri Lanka | SuperSport Park,Centurion | 26 December 2020 |
| 601/5d | India | 156.3 | 3.84 | 1 | South Africa | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium,Pune | 10 October 2019 |
| 589/3d | Australia | 127.0 | 4.63 | 1 | Pakistan | Adelaide Oval,Adelaide | 29 November 2019 |
| (d=declared) Last updated: 23 June 2021[52] | |||||||
| Score | Team | Overs | RR | Inns | Opposition | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | India | 21.2 | 1.68 | 3 | Australia | Adelaide Oval,Adelaide | 19 December 2020 |
| 67 | England | 27.5 | 2.40 | 2 | Headingley Cricket Ground,Headingley | 22 August 2019 | |
| 81 | 30.4 | 2.64 | 3 | India | Narendra Modi Stadium,Ahmedabad | 25 February 2021 | |
| 97 | West Indies | 40.5 | 2.37 | 1 | South Africa | Daren Sammy Cricket Ground,Gros Islet | 10 June 2021 |
| 100 | 26.5 | 3.72 | 4 | India | Sir Vivian Richards Stadium,North Sound | 22 August 2019 | |
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[53] | |||||||
| Score | Team | Target | Overs | RR | Opposition | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 395/7 | West Indies | 395 | 127.3 | 3.10 | Bangladesh | Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium,Chattogram | 7 February 2021 |
| 362/9 | England | 359 | 125.4 | 2.88 | Australia | Headingley Cricket Ground,Headingley | 25 August 2019 |
| 329/7 | India | 328 | 97.0 | 3.39 | The Gabba,Brisbane | 19 January 2021 | |
| 277/7 | England | 277 | 82.1 | 3.37 | Pakistan | Old Trafford,Manchester | 8 August 2020 |
| 268/4 | Sri Lanka | 268 | 86.1 | 3.11 | New Zealand | Galle International Stadium,Galle | 18 August 2019 |
| Last updated: 23 June 2021[54] | |||||||
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