Before India and New Zealand take the field for the much-anticipated final of the World Test Championship, it is understood the ICC is yet to finalise the playing conditions for the ultimate clash in Southampton, starting June 18.
Special attention is due to be paid to the possibility of a draw, with confusion as to what happens in case there is no outright result after five days of play. TOI reported that the ICC could finalise the playing conditions for the WTC final by the end of this week.
Earlier, when the WTC was formulated, the ICC wrote that a reserve day would be kept for the final. That clause, however, was taken off from the governing body’s website. It was also stated that in case the match ended in a draw, the two teams will be declared the joint winners.
According to the initial plan, the reserve day was due to be used in case there were any hours lost in the first five days of play. An ICC source close to the development told TOI much the same, mentioning “the idea was to ensure that the match is played out in the 30 hours in the first five days.”
“And the reserve day would come into play only if a total of 30 hours were not played in the first five days. That would have meant that the result had a lesser chance of being influenced by weather.”
However, with the condition of reserve day being a cause of ambiguity, equal attention is to be paid to the over-rates now, with a five-day game comprising a maximum of 450 overs.
“The idea of having joint winners also doesn’t sit very well given it’s the first time a WTC final is being played. So, one has to have maximum options open to get a result out of the match. The ICC committee is working on it and it should be out this week,”
the source added.
The ICC will be discussing all the matters related to the WTC in its board meeting on June 1. It is understood, the announcement for the next cycle of WTC from 2021-23 can also be made in the coming days. The first series for the next cycle is supposed to be the India-England five-Test series, beginning August 4.
But not every full-member nation is on board with regards to the continuation of the Test league, with scepticism borne out of the allocation of points and tournament format – both of which were ruined in the first cycle by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before assuming his duties as the new ICC chairman in November last year, Greg Barclay had gone to the extent of saying that the WTC hasn’t produced the desired results and indicated that it might not be persisted with.
