In order to complete the inaugural cycle of the World Test Championship by June next year at Lord's with a final, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is contemplating the option of splitting points for multiple bilateral series that remain indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A report in the ESPNcricinfo stated, the all-important matter is likely to be discussed at ICC's Cricket Committee meeting in November. 

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The other option that could be pondered over in the prevailing circumstances is to take into account only those series that will have been played by the end of March 2021. 

In this method, the final positions on the nine-team league points table could be arrived based on the percentage of points teams have won from the games they have played in the cycle. 

"A significant number of Tests have been postponed this year because of the pandemic. In many cases, it isn't clear when they might be rescheduled to, let alone whether they can be squeezed in within this WTC league cycle, which concludes at the end of March 2021," the reported stated.

Currently, the Test championship has an imperfect points system, with each series accounting for 120 points, irrespective of the size of the rubber, which means teams gain an unequal number of points for their wins and draws across the board. 

The new system in consideration is the one where ICC could distribute one-third of the total points for a postponed series. 

"Splitting the points would be within the regulations as they stand, whereby all Tests in the cycle that can't be played (through no fault of either side) are deemed draws. In that scenario, both sides receive a third of the points available for a Test (120 points are available for every series). Basing it on percentages of points played for would require a tweak to existing regulations," the report added. 

(Inputs from PTI)