Points system for World Test Championship announced

With the World Test Championship set to get underway after the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup, it is reported that a maximum of 120 points will be up for grabs in each series irrespective of the number of matches that are played.

According to the points system, the points for the winning teams of a Test differ for each series depending on the total number of matches. A draw will fetch teams one-third of the points available for a win while a tie will fetch the teams half the points each.

A maximum of 720 points - 120 points for six series (three home and three away) will be up for the grabs for all the nine sides in a cycle in the next four years. The top-2 from each cycle will play in the final to determine the winner.

The proposed system that aims at negating dead rubbers from the format by awarding points for each win was put forward at ICC's annual conference in Dublin last weekend where the Chief Executives' Committee went through the recommendations made by the ICC's cricket committee and passed them on to the ICC Board.

ESPNcricinfo understands that ICC has approved the above recommendations.

The points system in a nutshell:

720 points will be up for grabs in a World Test Championship cycle.

120 points will be at stake in every series irrespective of the matches.

The points for a win differ according to the matches while the teams will get 30% of the points if the match ends in a draw and will share the points if the match is tied.

In a five-match Test series, the team winning a match will get 24 points while the losing team will go home empty-handed. In case of a draw, the teams will be given eight points each.

In a four-match Test series, the team winning a match will get 30 points while the teams will get 10 points if the match ends in a draw.

In a three-match Test series, 40 points will be awarded to the team that wins the match. If the match ends in a draw, teams will receive 13.3 points each.

In a two-match Test series, each Test is worth 60 points. 20 points will be awarded to the team if the match ends in a stalemate.