The first block of fixtures in the 2023-2025 World Test Championship has come to an end with the conclusion of the 2023 Ashes. Here’s how things stand nine games into the cycle.

Three series and nine games into the 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle, Pakistan lead the points table with a 100 per cent points percentage (PCT) having won both their Tests against Sri Lanka.

They are followed by India who won their two-match series in the West Indies 1-0 after rain quashed their chances of a whitewash on the final day of the second Test. They have 16 points from two games, which amounts to a PCT of 66.67 per cent.

Next up are Australia and England at third and fifth, with the West Indies sandwiched in between at fourth. The five-match Ashes series finished 2-2 and should, ideally, have given both England and Australia the same number of points. But extreme over-rate sanctions applied by the ICC have meant that Australia have lost 10 points while England have lost as many as 19 across the five-match series.

This has brought Australia’s points tally down from 28 to 18, and their PCT down from what could have been 46.66 per cent to 30 per cent. Similarly, for England, the points are down to just nine, and the PCT is down to barely 15 per cent. West Indies, with four points out of 24, have a PCT of 16.67 per cent and are above England on the table. Sri Lanka are sixth, having lost both their games.

Next block of fixtures

Test cricket will take a backseat for the next few months in the international calendar with the ODI World Cup to be played between October-November. The next Test series is scheduled to start on November 28 between New Zealand and Bangladesh, followed by Pakistan’s tour of Australia that starts on December 14.

South Africa will be the last team to start their campaign in this cycle of the World Test Championship when they host India for a two-Test series between December 2023-January 2024.

2024 will then see Australia hosting West Indies for a two-Test series, followed by an epic five-game encounter between India and England in the subcontinent. New Zealand will then host South Africa and Australia for two successive two-Test series across February and March 2024, while Sri Lanka will tour Bangladesh for two Tests during the same period to bring an end to the second block of fixtures in this cycle of the World Test Championship.

What do the results of the first block of fixtures mean for each team?

Pakistan have given themselves a significant boost with their 2-0 whitewash away from home. With two relatively weaker opponents lined up at home (West Indies and Bangladesh), they have a great chance at making the WTC Final for the first time if they manage to get a few results going their way from the three tough series they have ahead of them: England at home, Australia away, and South Africa away.

India would be ruing the fact that they dropped eight points in the series against West Indies after rain played spoilsport in the second Test. They have two tough overseas assignments in this cycle – five Tests against Australia and two against South Africa. At home, they will face England, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. While their home record has been brilliant for a long time now, they will be challenged by a Bazball-fuelled England and will have to work through their transition period to secure a few victories away from home as well to guarantee a WTC Final spot.

Australia and England have been severely hampered by the over-rate penalties. England more so, as despite a hard-fought Ashes where many believed that they were the better team, they only have a PCT of 15 per cent to show. Fortunately for them, their remaining home series are against Sri Lanka and West Indies, two teams not at the peak of their powers currently. However, their real challenge will lie in their overseas encounters: five Tests against India, three against New Zealand, and two against Pakistan. They’ll have to get on a roll at some point if they are to make it to the WTC Final.

Australia are slightly better placed with a 30 per cent PCT despite winning the same number of points as England. West Indies and Sri Lanka have done themselves no favours losing home series. South Africa have a highly favourable schedule as they will avoid Australia and England, and have three subcontinental teams touring them in this cycle. New Zealand, on the other hand, have a significantly tougher road to the WTC Final as they’ll tour three different subcontinental nations, something they don’t necessarily like to do.

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