South African legend raises big questions on WTC format despite Proteas’ historic win in 2025 final

Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has called for changes in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, days after his national team won their maiden trophy by beating Australia in the final. The cricketer-turned-YouTuber wants the WTC schedule to be fair and consistent for all Test-playing nations. The 41-year-old suggested a four-year cycle like the ODI World Cup instead of two-year cycles to ensure each side plays against other teams.

De Villiers' remarks came as the Proteas played the joint fewest matches, 12, out of the nine teams, 10 games fewer than England, who played the most during the WTC 2023-25 cycle. South Africa played only two home Tests, with no series scheduled against Australia and England in the previous cycle.

On Tuesday (June 17), De Villiers told BBC Sport:

“[This moment] won't be lost. But yes, to a certain extent, something needs to be done. I saw the schedule that came out for the next cycle of the WTC and there is an improvement, but I still feel there's work that needs to be done there to just to get it as consistent as possible and as fair as possible for all for all Test-playing nations."

“You want to get to that final feeling like you've played against all these nations. Maybe a four-year cycle would be nice. We've done that in the past with one-day internationals, so why not in Test cricket? It would make sense and it would give the organisers just so much more time to get a really fair, well-balanced system out there.”

The legendary batter further lauded South Africa for ending their 27-year-long ICC trophy drought, saying the moment will not be forgotten:

“It's a long time until our next Test match, but there's no doubt it won't be forgotten. I've absolutely no doubt the Proteas have sort of stirred the emotions of the South African cricketing fans and they will patiently wait for that next encounter."

Number of WTC 2025-27 matches for each team (via Wikipedia):

1. Australia: 22
2. Bangladesh: 12
3. England: 21
4. India: 18
5. New Zealand: 16
6. Pakistan: 13
7. South Africa: 14
8. Sri Lanka: 12
9. West Indies: 14

South Africa will begin their WTC 2025-27 cycle against Zimbabwe in a two-match Test series, which starts in Bulawayo on June 28.

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Double joy for AB de Villiers as RCB and South Africa end trophy droughts

AB de Villiers had a brilliant week as both his national team and former IPL franchise ended their trophy droughts in June.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad in the IPL 2025 final to lift their maiden trophy in the 18th edition of the tournament on June 3.

A week later, Temba Bavuma-led side scripted history by beating the Aussies by five wickets as they chased down 282 in the WTC 2025 summit clash at Lord’s on June 10, the fourth day of the ultimate Test. This was only the second ICC crown for the Proteas after the 1998 Champions Trophy.