The second cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) will kick-off with India’s five-match Test tour of England, starting August 4 in Nottingham.
Every team will play three home series and an equal number of away series in the second edition of the tournament.
Later this year, England will travel to Australia for the Ashes series, comprising five Test matches.
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According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, these tours will be the only two series having five Tests in the second WTC cycle. The ICC is yet to take a call on the schedule and the venue for the summit clash.
It is pertinent to note here that the tours which were postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in the opening WTC cycle will not be carried forward.
As per the report, India will play 19 Tests while Australia and South Africa will feature in 15 matches. England will compete in 21 Tests – the most by any team in the second WTC cycle.
Unlike the inaugural edition where each series had 120 points up for grabs, all teams will get "same standardised number of points" for winning a game in the second WTC cycle.
A tie will fetch each team six points while a draw will give them four. Winning team for each match will earn 12 points and one point can be deducted for slow over rates.
"Instead of each series being worth the same number of points, 120, irrespective of whether the series is played over two Tests or five Tests, the next cycle will see each match being worth the same number of points - a maximum of 12 per match," ESPNcricinfo quoted ICC's acting chief executive officer Geoff Allardice as saying.
"Teams will be ranked on the percentage of available points they won from the matches they have played. The aim was to try and simplify the points system and to allow teams to be meaningfully compared on the table at any point, though they may have played differing numbers of matches and series," he said.
