ICC World Test Championship

The ICC World Test Championship is a prestigious league competition for Test cricket, governed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is the premier championship for the longest format of the game. The tournament, which began in 2019, features the top nine Test teams in the world, with each team playing six of the eight possible opponents over a two-year cycle, with three series at home and three away. The number of matches in each series varies between a minimum of two matches to a maximum of five matches, with the number of matches played in each series being agreed upon by the two competing teams prior to the start of the competition.

The tournament aims to bring context to bilateral Test cricket, with every game counting towards the world's best teams going head-to-head. It honors the importance of the longest format of the game and ensures a pinnacle event for the format, similar to the World Cups for men and women in the ODI and T20I formats. The league format was agreed upon by the ICC members, with each team playing the same number of series, although not necessarily the same number of Tests, due to the varying number of matches in each series.

The inaugural ICC World Test Championship started with the 2019 Ashes series and concluded with New Zealand lifting the trophy after defeating India in the final in June 2021. The second ICC World Test Championship commenced on 4 August 2021 with the Pataudi Trophy series and culminated with Australia lifting the trophy after defeating India in the final in June 2023. The 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship began in 2023 and will conclude with the finals in England in the summer of 2025.

The tournament has faced various challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to matches being suspended, postponed, or cancelled, and affected the scheduling of several rounds of matches. Despite these challenges, the ICC World Test Championship remains the premier championship for Test cricket, bringing together the world's best teams in a league competition that showcases the longest and most traditional form of the game.