The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced that the World Test Championship points system is modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ICC confirmed that the percentage of points earned from the contested matches will decide the finalists of the inaugural World Test Championship, which has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the new points system being implemented, Australia (82.2 per cent) pipped India (75 per cent) to jump on top of the points table. Earlier, India were at the top with 360 points, followed by Australia (296) and England (292).
he Board approved a recommendation from the ICC Cricket Committee, headed by Anil Kumble, to change the competition terms for the event to determine how series affected by the global pandemic are accounted for on the points table.
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney also assured that the final of World Test Championship will proceed as planned in June next year.
“Both the Cricket Committee and Chief Executives Committee supported the approach of ranking teams based on completed matches and points earned as this reflects their performance and doesn’t disadvantage teams that have been unable to compete all of their matches through no fault of their own. We explored a whole range of options, but our Members felt strongly that we should proceed as planned with the first-ever World Test Championship Final in June next year.,” Manu Sawhney stated in the press release.
ICC also confirmed that the Women’s T20 World Cup will be postponed from its current slot at the end of 2022 to 9-26 February 2023.
Sawney said that the board will continue to build the momentum around the women’s game through 2022 and into 2023.
“Moving the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to 2023 makes perfect sense on a number of levels. Firstly, it will provide a better workload balance for players giving them the best possible opportunity to perform to the highest levels on a global stage. Secondly, we can continue to build the momentum around the women’s game through 2022 and into 2023. We are committed to fueling the growth of the women’s game and today’s decision enables us to do that over the longer term,” he stated.
