WTC Final, IND vs AUS: The final match of the World Test Championship (WTC) will be played between India and Australia from 7th June at The Oval ground in London, England. The first final of WTC was also hosted in England and the final of 2025 will also be hosted in England.
In 2021, India and New Zealand competed for the title in Southampton. At the same time, the third final of the tournament will be contested at the Lord’s Ground in London in 2025.
In such a setting, cricket fans wonder why the International Cricket Council (ICC) holds the World Cup final in England every year. Let’s talk about it.
Best timing for the Indian audience
India is the biggest market for cricket. The country with the most cricket fans is India. Because of this, ICC’s earning is also maximum because of India, according to the recently revealed ICC income model, India will receive 38.5% of ICC’s earnings for the next four years. No other country will receive even a 7% cut of the profits.
The rationale for such a large part of going to India is the country’s audience and the cash generated by the ICC with the support of the BCCI. The ICC earns the most money with the support of the BCCI. In such a case, the ICC keeps the timing of the majority of tournaments in mind for the Indian audience.
In the WTC final, which will be played in England from June 7 to 11, the day’s play will start at 3:30 pm Indian time and will run till 11:00 pm. Which is peak time for the Indian cricket-watching public. Even if Team India had not reached the WTC finals, Indians make up the bulk of the audience in ICC competitions.
Playing is possible in England only in this season / Timings
Apart from England, Test matches are held in Asian countries and South Africa only when the Indian audience is available. However, cricket is not played in any of these countries during June, therefore the ICC schedules each event.
Keeping in view the busy schedule of world cricket and the ongoing franchise cricket across the world, the ICC kept the window for the WTC final in the month of June. That is, from 2021 to 2025, the final of the World Test Championship is scheduled to be hosted this month.
Cricket can be played in England, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies in June. There are matches in Sri Lanka during this time, but many times rain raises issues. Whereas in West Indies, Day-Test matches start at 7:30 pm in India. In such a situation, by the end of the day’s game, it is 3:00 midnight, which is not suitable for the Indian audience as well as Australia, Asia and other Test-playing nations.
The weather is also a major reason why cricket is not played in nations such as India, Australia, and South Africa in June. It starts raining in India during this time, in South Africa, however, it is coming to an end at this moment. In Australia, however, it is extremely chilly during this period, making cricket impossible.
As a result, the rest of the world, including Australia, travels to those nations during the months of June, July, and August, when cricket can possible.
Following the conclusion of the WTC, Australia will play the Ashes series in England beginning June 16, while Team India will tour the West Indies in July. During this time, the South African side will not play any international cricket.
The hot spot for international tourists
England’s summer season lasts from May to September. Although England is cold all year and rain can fall at any moment, the summer season lasts from May through August. During this season, numerous tourists come to see the sights. More than 3.8 million tourists visited England in June and July of last year, according to the Visit Britain website. This is the highest total for the entire year.
Visitors come to England in the summer, during which all three formats of England’s domestic tournaments (County Championship, T20 Blast and ODI-Cup) also take place. The Hundred, a franchise cricket tournament in England, takes place from late July to August after the domestic tournament is over by the early week of July. Meanwhile, international cricket continues here. Rain is rarely a problem in England from May through September.
A huge Fanbase of all the teams is in England
England is one of the few countries in history to have dominated the entire world. This is why, even now, after all, countries have gained independence, 9% (approximately 60 lakhs) of England’s population is made up of people from other countries. There is around 18.65 lakh (3.1%) Indians among these, indicating that there will never be a shortage of spectators to support Team India, regardless of where the match is held in England.
London where the WTC Final will be hosted, London’s population is about 90 lakhs, here also more than 7% (about 6.56 lakhs) of people are Indians. London has the highest number of migrants at 37% (about 3.35 million) as compared to 9% for the whole of England. Aside from Indians, there are approximately 54,000 Australians. In such a situation, there is little chance that even one of the 27,500 seats of The Oval Stadium will be empty during the final.
England gets the most ICC events
For the WTC final, the ICC has currently fixed the June slot. But compared to the rest of the countries, England has been given the maximum number of men’s events by the ICC. England also hosted the first three editions (1975, 1979 and 1983) of the ICC’s first event, the ICC ODI World Cup.
Initially, the reason for doing this was that most crickets were played in this country and the structure of the cricket ground in England was much more advanced than in other countries till that time. But after India and Pakistan got the World Cup hosting rights in 1987, the rest of the countries also started getting the hosting rights of ICC events.
Talking about the ICC Senior Men’s tournament, England has got the maximum number of 11 hosting of the Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and World Test Championship final. Whereas India is at number two hosting 6 events. Sri Lanka has hosted 4 ICC events. Apart from these three, no country hosted more than 3 events.
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