Lord's booked as the venue for next two ICC World Test Championship finals

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has declared Lord's as the venue for the next two World Test Championship (WTC) finals in 2023 and 2025. The apex body's chairman, Greg Barclay, revealed that since there is relief from COVID-19, they can afford to hold the fixture at Lord's.

The 2021 WTC final took place at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, where New Zealand beat India by eight wickets. Pace bowler Kyle Jamieson earned the player of the match award for his seven wickets.

It was also the second time that New Zealand had clinched an ICC title. The game was initially scheduled at the Mecca of Cricket before the COVID-19 restrictions were imposed by the UK government.

Speaking to the BBC's Test Match Special, Greg Barclay stated the following about the event:

"It's June so that rules out a number of other venues and we've got to get certainty around where it's hosted. We're out of Covid now so subject to arrangements being made and being able to be hosted out of Lord's I think that's the intention."

The top nine teams are part of the red-ball competition and it runs over a two-year period, with each Test-playing nation featuring in six series—three at home and three away.

Meanwhile, former cricketers VVS Laxman and Daniel Vettori have been inducted into the ICC Men's Cricket Committee, headed by Sourav Ganguly. Former West Indian all-rounder Roger Harper has also been added as a past player representative.

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South Africa head the current ICC World Test Championship table

In the current WTC standings, the Proteas are at the top of the table with 71.43 percentage points and five wins alongside two losses. South Africa climbed to the summit after Australia lost the second Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. Currently, the top four teams are South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, and India.