Ashes in 2019 to open inaugural World Test Championship

Next years Ashes showdown between England and Australia will be the first series to count towards the new nine-team World Test Championship as attempts are made to reinvigorate the longer form of the game.

The new configuration was given the green light by the International Cricket Council (ICC) board at a meeting in Kolkata last week and the 2019 Ashes will kickstart a divisional structure over a two-year cycle.

Under Test Championship rules, the nine teams will contest three series at home and three away over the stipulated period, rather than all playing all, with points allocated and the top two doing battle in a final.

Full details of the points systems and the mathematics behind it are yet to be confirmed by the ICC, although Lords is believed to be leading the race to stage the inaugural Test Championship final in June 2021.

England, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and West Indies are set to compete in the championship, with Zimbabwe and the two sides most recently granted Test status – Ireland and Afghanistan – not included.

England, who remained fifth in the Test rankings following the ICCs annual update yesterday, will play five Tests against Australia next year at Edgbaston, Headingley, Lords, Old Trafford and The Oval.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, meanwhile, has confirmed that skipper Tim Paine and seamer Pat Cummins have been appointed to the ethics committee considering the culture of the Australia team following the ball-tampering scandal.

Cummins is expected to be named as vice-captain to Paine as the new leadership group takes control of the Australia side after year-long bans were dished out to former captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.

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CityAM

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