Lord's, the Home of Cricket' is likely to host the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2023. Even the first edition of the WTC final was supposed to be played at Lord's but owing to the dreaded Covid-19 restrictions, it was instead played in Southampton at the Ageas Bowl which saw one of the best Test matches played on neutral ground where Kane Williamson-led New Zealand outclassed India to be crowned the inaugural World Test Champions.
But as things stand as of now, restrictions have ended in the UK and bio-secure bubbles have been eased out, the ICC are hoping once again to stage the final at Lord's.
“I think it is scheduled for Lord’s, that was always the intention. It’s June so that rules out a number of other venues and we’ve got to get certainty around where it’s hosted. We’re out of Covid now so subject to arrangements being made and being able to be hosted out of Lord’s I think that’s the intention,” ICC chairperson Greg Barclay told BBC.
England is likely to host a one-off Test against a yet-to-be finalized opponent next summer before then hosting the Ashes. That would seem to increase the chances of Lord’s hosting the world final. The ICC is hoping to announce the venue at their Annual General Meeting next month.
There is still some work to be done before Lord’s is finalised, however, the ICC are hoping to announce the venue at their Annual General Meeting next month.
“The Test Championship has driven some relevancy into it so in 10-15 years’ time I still see Test cricket being an integral part. It may be that there is less Test cricket. Some countries may have to make room and play less Test cricket – some of them might have totally different long and short form squads but also some of the smaller Full Members will have to accept from a resourcing point of view that they can’t play the amount of Test cricket that they wanted to. So we may see a lessening of that, maybe they play four or five Tests a year whereas England, Australia and India I think will be playing Test cricket as they are now,” Barclay added.
