The World Test Championship final begins on Wednesday at Lord’s, a venue the International Cricket Council has chosen to host all three of the competition’s showspiece matches thus far. The ICC made the announcement after its annual conference in Singapore, highlighting England’s “successful track record in hosting recent finals” even though Ben Stokes’ team are yet to reach the one-off showdown.
The decision was widely criticised, including by Wisden’s almanack, which branded it a “shambles masquerading as a showpiece”. It also came under fire from within the sport, with South Africa coach Shukri Conrad saying after qualification for the final that they had reached their goal on the back of beating “pretty much nobody”.
It’s true that there are problems with the current two-year cycle. For example, India and Pakistan are unable to play each other due to political tensions and that leaves the rest of the field to compete for limited-overs opportunities with the ‘Big Three’. This often results in five-Test series which are high quality and lucrative for the hosts but can also be hard to win.
The competition is also skewed by the fact that the most successful teams are rewarded with more points than their rivals. That has led to a race for rankings between the top six, with many nations playing each other only once or twice a year. This is in contrast to the way that major sports leagues schedule their teams, and Booth wants to see the WTC cycle doubled to four years to ensure a more even schedule.