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Not Ideal: After Ben Stokes, Another Modern Day Great Raises Questions on WTC System
Follow UsA former WTC-winning captain, he believes that the tournament is uneven because each team does not play the same number of games.
England Test captain Ben Stokes termed the World Test Championship (WTC) points table as utterly confusing. Now, another modern-day great, former New Zealand captain and WTC winner, Kane Williamson, has called the entire system ‘not ideal’, especially the scheduling part of it.
The Kiwi backed the World Cricketers Association (WCA)’s point of having a separate window for international cricket to give it its due importance in the era of mushrooming T20 leagues.
"It comes back to scheduling. I love Test cricket, and I'd love to see it stay, and I'd love to see it be a pathway for young cricketers still, alongside the T20 format… If you can prioritise windows where teams are playing each other consistently and somewhat evenly, then I think it just makes it [the WTC] a slightly more level competition,” Williamson was quoted as saying to ESPN Cricinfo.
Commenting on the scheduling and how the Big Three - India, Australia, and England - get to play five-Test series during the WTC while a team like South Africa play only a total of 12 Tests in the entire two-year cycle, Williamson said, “The fact that it's different for each team is not ideal.”
“Any time you get the opportunity to review after a two-year Test Championship window, to try and tweak it a little bit, that's fine. It's still in its infancy, really, as a competition, so you're always going to look at those things,” added the 34-year-old.
The WTC 2023-25 final between Australia and South Africa will begin on June 11 at Lord's.
