Australia and South Africa to clash in WTC 2025 final on June 11 at Lord's.
Australia and South Africa will clash in the third ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2025) final at Lord’s Stadium in London. The one-off Test will begin on June 11 and will see Australia defending their title won in the 2023 final.
According to Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne, the health of Test cricket depends on other countries than the top three producing better players.
When it comes to red-ball cricket outside of India, England, and Australia, this has been the situation for the teams.
The nations have struggled to strike a balance between playing enough red-ball and franchise cricket, which generate revenue to sustain the domestic models in their cricketing seasons, because of the financial health of their boards, the allure of offers for players from franchises around the world, and the need to accommodate their own franchise leagues.
However, due to their boards' sound economic standing, India, England, and Australia have managed to preserve that equilibrium and find a happy medium between franchise and Test cricket.
“Every time Test cricket is on, people want to watch it. India, Australia, and England are probably carrying a bit of the load of Test cricket, but we really want to see all the countries keep producing great players and being part of upholding such an amazing tradition of Test cricket,” Labuschagne said, speaking on the ICC.
“It is an exciting tournament. It means every Test you play has something on it, it brings all the countries into play, and anyone can make the final. It’s exciting to play in, you’re playing for a trophy at the end of a two-year cycle. I think it has worked great. Two years ago, when we beat India, it was awesome,” Labuschagne said on WTC.
Labuschagne lauded South Africa and their performance in the recent WTC cycle and stated that this one game will be a good challenge for Australia.
“South Africa has been a very good team in this cycle, on paper, it’s a well-balanced side and they have some really nice players. It will be a good challenge for us, and we are going to have to be on our game. Playing at Lord’s is always special with the history and what is involved with playing there. It’s going to be an awesome week and another great match,” Labuschagne signed off.
(ICC inputs)