England has been confirmed as the hosts of the next three World Test Championships finals. England will host the 2027, 2029 and 2031 finals following the country’s successful staging of the first three events which started from 2021. The decision, which had been on the cards since Lord’s played host to South Africa’s five-wicket victory over Australia in the third WTC final. It was ratified at the ICC’s annual conference in Singapore this week.
Despite some speculation that the contest could be set for a reallocation to India from 2027 onwards, the ICC cited the ECB’s “successful track record in hosting recent finals” in confirming its decision. With June looking like the only window for the WTC finals, England was the only option left for the ICC to take and ratify it.
Richard Gould’s immediate reaction on hosting the next 3 WTC finals.Â
ECB’s chief executive Richard Gould spoke to reporters and exclaimed delight in getting to host the next 3 finals in WTC. He added, ” We are absolutely delighted that England and Wales has been chosen to host the next three ICC World Test Championship Finals. It’s a testament to the passion that fans in this country have for this treasured format of the game and the willingness of supporters from around the world to travel here for these games. Hosting these finals is a privilege, and we look forward to working with the ICC to build on the success of the previous editions,”
The June window, early in the English summer, remains the ICC’s favoured time of the year for staging the final, in the aftermath of the IPL and at a time where there are less international fixtures scheduled which makes June and England an option for the WTC final.
England’s ability to sell out venues for neutral games was evident at Lord’s last month and it is unique compared to the rest of the world. This was also the case when the Kia Oval hosted the Australia-India final in 2023 which Australia won. Even the inaugural event in 2021 was staged successfully in bio-secure circumstances at the Hampshire Bowl with limited access for India’s and New Zealand’s fans. New Zealand won this final.
Richard Gould’s earlier thoughts on prospect of hosting the next three finals.Â
ECB chief executive Richard Gould spoke to ESPNcricinfo last month as well and gave his thoughts on the prospect of hosting the next three events. He noted, “We don’t think that we’ve got any absolute right to be the continual host of the WTC final, but there are advantages of having it here. Irrespective of who gets into the final, we will sell it out. We’re probably the only member nation within the ICC that could deliver that. We recognise that perhaps others would like to take it around the world at some point. But the worry is if you move it, end up with two neutral teams, and don’t get a crowd, the whole thing could devalue and deflate pretty quickly,”
The electrifying atmosphere at Lord’s was noticed and came to everyone’s notice. ICC Chairman Jay Shah was visibly enthused by the sense of occasion and atmosphere that England’s most famous venue afforded the event of the magnitude. It was fitting that Lord’s the Mecca of Cricket hosted this event and will be expected to do so in the foreseeable future.
But there has been no final decision made as to whether Lord’s will remain the venue for all the WTC finals or will it be moved around the other venues in England. No decision has been made on that regard. Whatever it is, England is the ideal place to host the WTC finals because of the timing and crowd support that is there. Lord’s will be ideal as it has the tradition to host big events, but there are other grounds in England that can host this event and attract big crowds.
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