ICC World Test Championship 2025–27: How It Works & Points System
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) gives every Test series between the top nine teams a place in one league, with the top two meeting in a one-off final. This guide explains the 2025–27 cycle and how its table works.
What is the World Test Championship?
The WTC is a two-year league for Test cricket run by the ICC. Nine teams take part: Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Each team plays six series in a cycle, three at home and three away, and the series lengths vary from two to five Tests.
At the end of the cycle, the two teams at the top of the table play the final. The current cycle runs from 2025 to 2027, with the final in 2027 in England.
The points system
- Win: 12 points.
- Tie: 6 points.
- Draw: 4 points.
- Defeat: 0 points.
- Slow over rates cost points: a team loses points for every over it is behind the required rate at the end of a match.
Because teams play different numbers of Tests, the table is ranked by points percentage, not total points: the points a team has won as a share of the points it could have won. A team that wins one Test and draws one in a two-match series has 16 out of 24 possible points, or 66.67%.
Past winners
- 2019–21: New Zealand beat India in the final at Southampton.
- 2021–23: Australia beat India in the final at The Oval, London.
- 2023–25: South Africa beat Australia in the final at Lord’s, London.
WTC series being played now
- Pakistan v Sri Lanka: two Tests, in Rawalpindi and Lahore, in November 2026.
- New Zealand v India: two Tests, in Wellington and Christchurch, from 19 November 2026 (New Zealand time).
- South Africa v Bangladesh: two Tests, in Johannesburg and Centurion, from 15 November 2026.
See every WTC fixture and result on the World Test Championship 2025–27 series page.