World Test Championship Explained: Cricket's Test League Cycle
What the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is — the 2-year Test league cycle, how points are earned (percent of available points per series), who has won it (New Zealand 2021, Australia 2023, South Africa 2025), the WTC Final format (5-day Test match, neutral venue), and the controversy over New Zealand winning the first cycle despite India winning more Test matches.
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is a two-year league competition for Test cricket's 9 Full Member nations (Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies). Each cycle runs approximately 27 months: Test matches played during the FTP (Future Tours Programme) bilateral series earn WTC points; the top two teams after the 27-month cycle meet in a 5-day Test match Final (WTC Final) to determine the champion. The WTC was introduced in 2019 specifically to give context and consequence to individual Test series — previously, individual bilateral series had no connection to a broader competition.
How WTC Points Are Earned
WTC point system (updated for Cycle 2, 2021-2023): teams earn Percentage of Points Available (PCT) rather than raw points — this corrects for the inequality of teams playing different numbers of series during the cycle. In each Test match: Win = 12 points; Draw = 4 points; Tie = 6 points; Loss = 0 points. Each series has a total of points available depending on the number of Tests (a 5-match series has 60 points available per team; a 2-match series has 24 points). A team's WTC ranking is determined by their PCT (points earned / maximum available points × 100) — so a team that won all 2 of their 2-match series (24/24 = 100% PCT) ranks above a team that won 3 from a 5-match series (36/60 = 60% PCT), even though the second team won more matches in absolute terms.
WTC Finals: New Zealand 2021, Australia 2023
WTC Cycle 1 Final (2021, Southampton): New Zealand vs India; played as a 6-day Test (with a reserve day — used, due to rain). New Zealand won by 8 wickets — Kyle Jamieson (7 wickets across the match) and Neil Wagner were the key bowlers; Devon Conway and Ross Taylor batted through India's chase requirements. India's batting — despite Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Pujara — failed to establish against New Zealand's seam movement in Southampton's overcast conditions. WTC Cycle 2 Final (2023, The Oval, London): Australia vs India. Australia won by 209 runs; Pat Cummins (took 7 wickets in the match) bowled India out for 234 in a 444-run chase. The win confirmed Australia as the outstanding Test team of the 2023 cycle — they had also won the Ashes in England (2023 — the series that included the 'Ben Stokes follow-on miracle' at Headingley).
WTC Cycle 3: 2023-2025
WTC Cycle 3 (2023-2025): The third WTC cycle covered series from June 2023 to early 2025. Key series within Cycle 3: England's Ashes in Australia; India's home series vs New Zealand and Australia; South Africa's series vs West Indies and Sri Lanka. WTC Final 3 result (June 11-14, 2025, Lord's): South Africa beat Australia by 5 wickets — Aiden Markram scored a century chasing 282, securing South Africa's first ICC title since 1998. The WTC 2025-27 (Cycle 4) is now underway. The WTC has achieved its goal of giving Test series more context: teams now explicitly cite WTC implications when planning selection and series strategy — Test cricket's 'league' narrative has strengthened bilateral series' stakes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the World Test Championship (WTC)?
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is a 2-year Test cricket league competition for the 9 Full Member ICC nations. Launched in 2019, it provides a context for bilateral Test series — teams earn Percentage of Points Available (PCT) across all series played; the top two teams after 27 months meet in a WTC Final (a 5-day Test match at a neutral venue). Results: WTC 1 (2019-2021): New Zealand beat India. WTC 2 (2021-2023): Australia beat India. WTC 3 (2023-2025): South Africa beat Australia at Lord's, June 2025.
Who won the first World Test Championship?
New Zealand won the first ICC World Test Championship Final — vs India at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton, June 2021. New Zealand won by 8 wickets. Key performances: Kyle Jamieson (7 wickets across the match), Devon Conway (52 in the second innings). The match was played as a 6-day Test (with a reserve day used due to rain) — the only 6-day Test in the WTC Final format. India: despite Virat Kohli's 44 and Rohit Sharma's 30, the batting could not establish against New Zealand's swing bowling in Southampton's overcast conditions.
How do WTC points work?
WTC uses Percentage of Points Available (PCT) not raw points, to account for different teams playing different numbers of Tests. In each Test: Win = 12 points, Draw = 4 points, Tie = 6 points, Loss = 0 points. A team's PCT = (points earned across all WTC matches / maximum available points if won everything) × 100. Teams with fewer matches can rank highly if they win most of them. This prevents teams that play more series from having an automatic advantage over teams that play fewer. At cycle end, the top 2 by PCT qualify for the WTC Final.