Each nation will play six series between August 2019 and February 2021 before the final in June 2021.
What is the ICC World Test Championship?
The ICC World Test Championship sees nine men’s Test-playing nations competing over a two-year period, with a final between the two top nations to be played in 2021.
Bilateral series remain as the key component in the Championship but, for the first time, points are up for grabs in each match meaning there are no ‘dead rubbers’.
When will the Championship take place?
The ICC World Test Championship gets underway with the 2019 Men’s Specsavers Ashes series, where England host Australia for five Tests in August and September.
Each nation will play six series (three at home, three away), ranging between two and five matches, between August 2019 and February 2021 before the final in June 2021.
Which nations are involved?
England are joined by eight other Test-playing nations in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
Australia, who will also play in the opening series, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
The three ICC Full member nations not participating are Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe.
The fixtures for the ICC World Test Championship follow the 2018-2023 ICC Future Tours Programme. This means that each nation will only play against six other nations in the two-year period of the inaugural Championship.
Where and when is the final?
The top two teams in the Championship table after the final round of fixtures will play a one-off Test match to determine who is the champion nation.
The location of the final is still to be confirmed, between but it should take place in June 2021.
Who do England play?
England kick off the 2019-2021 ICC World Test Championship with the Ashes series against Australia between 1 August and 16 September 2019.
They then face South Africa in a four-match series between December 2019 and January 2020 before heading to Sri Lanka for two Tests in February 2020.
England host the West Indies and Pakistan for three Tests each in the summer of 2020 with a five-Test tour of India in January 2021 rounding off our six series.
England’s two Test matches against New Zealand in November 2019 are not part of the Championships.
- England v Australia (Five Tests) – August/September 2019
- South Africa v England (Four Tests) – December 2019/January 2020
- Sri Lanka v England (Two Tests) – February 2020
- England v West Indies (Three Tests) – June 2020
- England v Pakistan (Three Tests) – July 2020
- India v England (Five Tests) – December 2020/January 2021
View the ICC Future Tours Programme schedule
Do all nations play the same number of Test matches?
No. With the schedule following the ICC Future Tours Programme, some nations will play more matches than others.
England will play the highest number of Tests, with 22 scheduled as a result of four- and five-match series against Australia, South Africa and India.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, however, will only play 13 matches each in the two-year period.
Australia and India will both play 18 matches, 15-a-piece for South Africa and West Indies and 14 each for Bangladesh and New Zealand.
How does the points system work?
Every match counts in the ICC World Test Championship, with points awarded for winning or drawing the game. This means, even if the series win is out of reach teams can still fight for Championship points.
The points on offer in each match depends on the number of matches in the series, however each series carries 120 points in total. This is to ensure the nations who will play more matches in the two-year timeframe don’t have an unfair advantage in reaching the final.
In a five-match series, therefore, 20% of the points will be available each match, while in a two-match series, 50% of the points will be available each match.
World Test Championship fixtures
Australia
- England (away) – 5 matches
- Pakistan (home) – 2 matches
- New Zealand (home) – 3 matches
- Bangladesh (away) – 2 matches
- India (home) – 4 matches
- South Africa (away) – 3 matches
Bangladesh
- India (away) – 2 matches
- Pakistan (away) – 2 matches
- Australia (home) – 2 matches
- Sri Lanka (away) – 3 matches
- New Zealand (home) – 2 matches
- West Indies (home) – 3 matches
England
- Australia (home) – 5 matches
- South Africa (away) – 4 matches
- Sri Lanka (away) – 2 matches
- West Indies (home) – 3 matches
- Pakistan (home) – 3 matches
- India (away) – 5 matches
India
- West Indies (away) – 2 matches
- South Africa (home) – 3 matches
- Bangladesh (home) – 2 matches
- New Zealand (away) – 2 matches
- Australia (away) – 4 matches
- England (home) – 5 matches
New Zealand
- Sri Lanka (away) – 2 matches
- Australia (away) – 3 matches
- India (home) – 2 matches
- Bangladesh (away) – 2 matches
- West Indies (home) – 3 matches
- Pakistan (home) – 2 matches
Pakistan
- Sri Lanka (home) – 2 matches
- Australia (away) – 2 matches
- Bangladesh (home) – 2 matches
- England (away) – 3 matches
- New Zealand (away) – 2 matches
- South Africa (home) – 2 matches
South Africa
- India (away) – 3 matches
- England (home) – 4 matches
- West Indies (away) – 2 matches
- Sri Lanka (home) – 2 matches
- Pakistan (away) – 2 matches
- Australia (home) – 3 matches
Sri Lanka
- New Zealand (home) – 2 matches
- Pakistan (away) – 2 matches
- England (home) – 2 matches
- Bangladesh (home) – 3 matches
- South Africa (away) – 2 matches
- West Indies (away) – 2 matches
West Indies
- India (home) – 2 matches
- England (away) – 3 matches
- South Africa (home) – 2 matches
- New Zealand (away) – 3 matches
- Bangladesh (away) – 3 matches
- Sri Lanka (home) – 2 matches
