Lord’s set to host World Test Championship final

LONDON: Lord’s Cricket Ground may have to give up one of two bilateral Test matches it is scheduled to host in 2021 if the International Cricket Council (ICC) is to get its wish for a showpiece World Test Championship (WTC) final at an iconic venue after the fashion of the Centenary Tests of 1977 and 1980.

Those matches, between England and Australia at the MCG and Lord’s, were part of the inspiration for the concept of a Test Championship, culminating in a gala one-off match to determine the best team in the world over the preceding two years.

Lord’s, widely known as ‘the home of cricket’, might be viewed as an obvious venue for the final and is understood to be the preferred location by some at the ICC.

But Lord’s is already scheduled to host two Tests in the English summer of 2021. While only one of them, a match between England and India, is currently confirmed, it is anticipated the ground will also host Afghanistan’s first Test against England earlier in the season.

Were Lord’s to be allocated the Test Championship final, one of those matches - probably the Afghanistan Test; it is hard to envisage any ground giving up the right to host an India Test - would almost certainly need to go elsewhere.

The ICC is hopeful that the WTC will inject far broader interest into Test cricket beyond its strongholds in England and Australia.