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Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has called for a change in the current scheduling of the World Test Championship (WTC). He has advocated for the establishment of specific timeframes dedicated solely to international cricket. He believes that implementing such designated windows could lead to the WTC becoming a 'more level competition'. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricket committee is scheduled to convene in Zimbabwe in the near future to deliberate on proposals aimed at adjusting the format of the WTC in anticipation of the upcoming cycle spanning from 2025 to 2027.
“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 told ESPNCricinfo.
“Naturally, the fact that it’s (WTC schedule) 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… It’s tricky though: there’s 12 months in a year, right? That’s difficult,” he added.
Kane Williamson, who led New Zealand to the inaugural World Test Championship title triumph, is of the opinion that adjusting the regulations of the WTC would provide it with greater context and significance.
“You put a tournament in front of somebody or a team, and they’re always quite keen to win it… Context is something that’s been spoken about for a while now, and it is great to see that there’s an effort to do that. It’s just how you keep tinkering it because there’s so many different opinions with teams, who they play and how you sort of continue to make it level,” Williamson further said.
Williamson considers New Zealand's title triumph in the World Test Championship final against India to be one of the most memorable moments in the nation's cricketing history.
“The context now in Test cricket has certainly increased the effort and results. We don’t see draws any more, basically, in Test cricket, so every team’s pushing for a result when there’s something on it. For us as a country, winning the inaugural Test Championship final, it was really special and a great moment in our history," he concluded.
The WTC 2023-2025 final between Australia and South Africa is slated to be held from June 11 to June 15. Meanwhile, New Zealand are scheduled to play a two-match Test series against Zimbabwe starting from July 30.
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