The maiden edition of the much-awaited World Test Championship (WTC) is all set to begin with the five-match Ashes series between England and Australia from August 1 at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.
The cricket's oldest rivalry will be followed by the two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and World Cup 2019 runner-ups New Zealand from August 14. Subsequently, India will open their campaign at the World Test Championship with a two-match Test series against West Indies at the latter's home turf starting from August 22.
A total of top nine Test teams in the world namely Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will be featuring in 71 matches across 27 series, played over two years.
The top two sides will be playing the final of the ICC World Test Championship in June 2021 in the United Kingdom.
With points available for every single game, each team will play three home and three away series. Each series counts for 120 points, distributed over the number of matches in a series. For example, a two-match series will mean 60 points for each Test while a three-match series will give 40 points to each Test match. A tie will be 50% of the points available, whilst a draw will be a 3:1 points ratio.
Here is the complete schedule of the maiden edition of the ICC World Test Championship:
India
July to August 2019: 2-match Test series against West Indies
October to November 2019: 3-match Test series against South Africa
November 2019: 2 Tests against Bangladesh
February 2020: 2 Tests against New Zealand
December 2020: 4 Tests against Australia
January to February 2021: 5-match Test series against England
New Zealand
July to August 2019: 2 Tests against Sri Lanka
December 2019 to January 2020: 3 Tests against Australia
February 2020: 2 Tests against India
August to September 2020: 2 Tests against Bangladesh
November to December 2020: 3 Tests against West Indies
December 2020: 2 Tests against Pakistan
South Africa
October 2019: 3 Tests against India
December 2019 to January 2020: 4 Tests against England
July to August 2020: 2 Tests against West Indies
January 2021: 2 Tests against Sri Lanka
January to February 2021: 2 Tests against Pakistan
February to March 2021: 3 Tests against Australia
England
July to August 2019: 5 Tests against Australia
December 2019 to January 2020: 4 Tests against South Africa
March 2020: 2 Tests against Sri Lanka
June to July 2020: 3 Tests against West Indies
July to August 2020: 3 Tests against Pakistan
January to February 2021: 5 Tests against India
Australia
July to September 2019: 5 Tests against England
November 2019: 2 Tests against Pakistan
December 2019 to January 2020: 3 Tests against New Zealand
February 2020: 2 Tests against Bangladesh
November to December 2020: 4 Tests against India
February to March 2021: 3 Tests against South Africa
Sri Lanka
July to August 2019: 2 Tests against New Zealand
October 2019: 2 Tests against Pakistan
March to April 2020: 2 Tests v England
July-August 2020: 3 Tests against Bangladesh
January 2021: 2 Tests against South Africa
February to March 2021: 2 Tests against West Indies
Pakistan
October 2019: 2 Tests against Sri Lanka
November to December 2019: 2 Tests against Australia
January to February 2020: 2 Tests against Bangladesh
July to August 2020: 3 Tests against England
December 2020: 2 Tests against New Zealand
January to February 2021: 2 Tests against South Africa
West Indies
July to August 2019: 2 Tests against India
June to July 2020: 3 Tests against England
July to August 2020: 2 Tests against South Africa
November to December 2020: 3 Tests against New Zealand
January to February 2021: 3 Tests against Bangladesh
February to March 2021: 2 Tests against Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
November 2019: 3 Tests against India
January to February 2020: 2 Tests against Pakistan
February 2020: 2 Tests against Australia
July-August 2020: 3 Tests v Sri Lanka
August-September 2020: 2 Tests v New Zealand
January-February 2021: 3 Tests v Windies
