South Africa won their second ICC title, winning the WTC 2025 final by defeating Australia at Lord's.
In his candid assessment of the World Test Championship format, South Africa legend AB de Villiers said that something had to be done to make changes.
A highly anticipated five-match Test series between India and England is scheduled to commence in late June of this year, marking the start of the forthcoming WTC cycle for 2025–2027.
Five days after the end of the 2023–2025 WTC final, in which South Africa defeated Australia at the storied Lord's Cricket Ground to become the new champions, this eagerly awaited series will begin. The India-England match will determine the tone of the upcoming championship race because there isn't much time to reset between cycles.
After South Africa qualified for the final in the previous cycle, the WTC format came under fire. Many questioned the scheduling and scoring system's fairness, claiming that South Africa's qualifying path was easier than that of fellow finalists Australia.
Critics questioned whether the current system accurately represents the top-performing clubs throughout the cycle, citing fewer games played and a perceived imbalance in opposing strength.
Although AB de Villiers acknowledged that the WTC format has to be adjusted, he implied that certain advancements had already been made for the upcoming season.
“[This moment] won't be lost. But yes, to a certain extent, something needs to be done. I saw the schedule that came out for the next cycle of the WTC and there is an improvement, but I still feel there's work that needs to be done there to just to get it as consistent as possible and as fair as possible for all for all Test-playing nations," De Villiers told BBC Sport.
He further advised for a four-year cycle in the future where every participating team can face each other.
“You want to get to that final feeling like you've played against all these nations. Maybe a four-year cycle would be nice. We've done that in the past with one-day internationals, so why not in Test cricket? It would make sense and it would give the organisers just so much more time to get a really fair, well-balanced system out there," he added.
De Villiers discussed the momentous occasion in Proteas cricket history when he was there at Lord's when South Africa raised the WTC mace.
“It's a long time until our next Test match, but there's no doubt it won't be forgotten. I've absolutely no doubt the Proteas have sort of stirred the emotions of the South African cricketing fans, and they will patiently wait for that next encounter," he concluded.