WTC champions should get to host the final of the following edition: Pat Cummins

Published - 09 Jun 2025, 20:27 IST | Updated - 09 Jun 2025, 20:32 IST

The World Test Championship (WTC) final is being hosted by England for the third time in a row. New Zealand were the inaugural champions, beating India by eight wickets at The Rose Bowl in Southampton in 2021. Two years later, Australia won the second edition at the Kennington Oval in London by beating India by 209 runs.

The latest edition will see defending champions Australia squaring off against South Africa at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

Recently, reports had emerged that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is thinking about hosting the summit clash.

Australian captain Pat Cummins suggested the idea of allowing the champions of the WTC to host the finals of the following edition. However, he also mentioned that if there are logistical challenges, the final should always be hosted at Lord's, the proverbial home of cricket.

"Logistically, it seems like that's probably the easiest way to have one venue. It'd be nice, maybe the previous winner hosts that for the next time, or something like that. But as an alternative, I think having it at Lord's every cycle is also a pretty good place," Cummins was quoted as saying by India Today Cricket.

Cummins said that winning two WTC titles will be a great testimony to Australia's success as a red-ball team in the last four years. However, he mentioned that the ODI World Cup which Australia won back in 2023 still tops his list of achievements, with the WTC win coming second.

"The last four years or so have been hugely successful for this group and it's (been) such a great chunk of our careers for players and staff. Having two maces is a really significant thing to show for that period of time – we feel like we have been the best team in the world across all different conditions and to hold the mace at the end of that would be a great sign of something to point to now but also down the track," Cummins said.

"The ODI World Cup of 2023 is going to be hard to top, that's number one for me. But I do believe the (World Test Championship) mace is just below that in terms of you're up against every other team in the world and you've been successful for a couple of years to make the final, so the mace means a lot," the captain concluded.