World Test Championship: ICC Announces Altered Point System, Australia Jumps Past India To Claim Top Spot

Following an ICC Board meeting, it has been confirmed that the finalists of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship will be decided by the percentage of points earned. The announcement means Australia jump past India to claim the top spot in the ICC World Test Championship.

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Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board on Thursday approved a recommendation from the Anil Kumble-headed ICC Cricket Committee to change the World Test Championship (WTC) rules.  As just under half of the WTC matches played till now due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the cricket committee had decided that the final WTC League standings from matches played and the matches lost won't be treated as drawn and points would be split. "The unprecedented disruption caused by Covid-19 means, to date, just under half of the WTC matches have been played, with that estimated to rise to more than 85 percent by the end of the competition window. Current regulations dictate that matches not completed shall be treated as a draw with points split. The Cricket Committee considered maintaining that status quo or determining the final WTC League standings from matches played," said an ICC press statement.

🇦🇺 Today's announcement means Australia jump past India to claim 🔝 spot in the ICC World Test Championship 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Pjitqfu2pg

— ICC (@ICC) November 19, 2020

"The Cricket Committee recommended the latter option, which was approved by the Chief Executives Committee and ratified by the Board, meaning teams will be ranked in order of percentage of points earned," it said. The Board also confirmed that the ICC Women's T20 World Cup will move from its current slot at the end of 2022 to February 9-26, 2023. The move follows the decision in August to postpone the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 to 2022 meaning there would be three major events in 2022, with the Commonwealth Games in July 2022, and the ICC Women's T20 World Cup due to be held in November 2022.