The World Test Championship is on the verge of crowning its third champion since New Zealand’s Black Caps claimed the inaugural tile by beating India in the first final in 2021 but the tournament’s roots can actually be traced back over 120 years.
After just 20 years or so of test cricket administrators were already concerned about the format’s enduring appeal and success.
Worries about the future of test cricket are not, as may be popularly imagined, just a recent phenomenon.
In fact, in 1909 newspaper reports noted criticism about the slow pace of play and international cricketers being more ‘cautious and inhibited in their approach’ than those playing domestic matches.
It was one of the reasons the first ‘Test Championship’ was staged in England in the summer of 1912 featuring every test nation in the world.
Well, all three of them. England, Australia and South Africa.
It was, in effect, the first World Test Championship although nobody called it that.
In an unusually wet summer England won the competition with four wins from their six matches but it was a commercial flop with poor attendances and a badly under-strength Australian team.
No further multi-team test tournament was played until the 1998-99 Asia Cup and that, too, only had one more edition until it reverted to easier, more viable white-ball formats.
WTC HERE TO STAY
Now, however, the ‘actual’ World Test Championship – for all its imperfections – has quickly established itself as a critical tool to provide context and competition to the purest and hardest form of the game and there is an overwhelming belief among the game’s highest authorities that it is here to stay.
It is hard to imagine any other major sport embracing a tournament in which the teams do not play all of the others, and even play a vastly contrasting number of matches, but the fact that crickets test-playing nations have hugged this contorted compromise of a competition to their chests is merely confirmation of how much it is needed.
Their focus on future iterations is now on how the WTC can be improved and made fairer rather than on abandoning it.
England and Australia have their Ashes, the greatest test series of all, while Australia and India compete for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which also attracts global attention.
England/India test series are no less compelling.
But the ‘Big Three’ test nations cannot survive playing five-test series against each other – and the smaller test nations most certainly cannot survive on the two-test scraps which are left over.
The WTC is the vehicle in which they can all drive in the same direction, despite it being in need of some significant panel-beating and a major design overhaul.
TWO DIVISIONS A TALKING POINT
There simply isn’t sufficient space in the calendar for everyone to play everyone else in 24 months, and India and Pakistan won’t play tests against each other anyway, but there is consensus on a desire for improvement.
And what about Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland?
What was the point in awarding them test status if they’re not invited to the party?
Two divisions remains a constant talking point and makes infinite sense – provided the Big Three are immune from relegation!
Right now, however, the world’s cricket followers – despite the IPL finally reaching its protracted climax - are already talking about the third WTC final between South Africa and Australia which takes place at Lord’s starting on 11 June.
In terms of experience and the reputation of the players, the Proteas are massive underdogs. David v Goliath.
The ‘visionaries’ of 120 years ago who first imagined staging a championship of test cricket may never have conceived that it would be a success after their attempt flopped, but they might deserve a posthumous pat on the back.