Amidst all the excitement and celebration surrounding the West Indies’ four-wicket win over England on Sunday, fans of the Caribbean side might have missed out on something else to celebrate.
The hard-fought victory spearheaded by the efforts of Jermaine Blackwood, who scored a match-winning 95, Jason Holder’s seven wickets and Shannon Gabriel’s nine-wicket haul, earned the West Indies their first points on the ICC World Test Championship table for 2019/2021.
Under the rules of the championship, each team plays six series, with each series counting for 120 points, distributed over the number of matches in a series. A two-match series will mean 60 points for each Test while a three-match series will give 40 points to each Test match.
A tie will be 50 per cent of the points available, whilst a draw will be a 3:1 points ratio.
When the West Indies beat England in their three-match #Raisethebat series, the Caribbean side picked up its first 40 points, which sees the side sitting seventh on the table, 16 points ahead of South Africa that has 24 points from seven matches played.
Bangladesh has not yet scored after three matches.
However, the West Indies, who have only played three matches in the championship so far, have a long way to go if they are to get into the top levels of the standings that are being led by India with 360 points from nine matches played. They have seven wins and two losses.
Australia, who have played 10 matches have seven wins, two losses and a draw for 296 points.
New Zealand are third with 180 points from their seven matches – the points coming from the three matches won. They have lost four.
England are not having a good time of it in fourth with 146 points. Their recent loss to the West Indies means they lost four Tests of the 10 played so far. They also have five wins and a draw.
Pakistan 140 and Sri Lanka 80 are fifth and sixth respectively.
If the West Indies wins their next match against England they will move into a tie on points with Sri Lanka and draw that much closer to Pakistan.
The ICC World Test Championship is a league competition for Test cricket run by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which started on August 1, 2019. It is intended to be the premier championship for Test cricket in line with the ICC's goal of having one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats of international cricket.
In October 2017, the ICC announced that a Test league had been agreed by its members, which would involve the top nine teams playing series over two years with the top two teams qualifying for a World Test League Championship Final.
The first ICC World Test Championship started after the 2019 Cricket World Cup from August 1, 2019, with the Ashes series. The second ICC World Test Championship will run from July 2021 to June 2023.