Australian captain Pat Cummins has come forward, suggesting that the defending champions be the host for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Cummins' idea was among the several ones thrown in the hat in the last six to eight months, with the overkill and monotony of England hosting the ultimate Test for the third year in a row. As Cummins and Australia embark on defending the Test Championship mace against the first-time finalists against South Africa, Cummins reckoned that having the previous champions get an extra motivation to push for a spot in the final to have a home final wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Logistically, it seems like that's probably the easiest way to have one venue," Cummins was quoted as saying by AAP.
"It'd be nice, maybe the previous winner hosts that for the next time, or something like that, Cummins added, saying that he didn't mind something as iconic as Lord's hosting it every year. Surprisingly, this is the first time in three cycles that Lord's is hosting the Test final after Southampton and the Oval being handed the reins in the previous two cycles. "But as an alternative, I think having it at Lord's every cycle is also a pretty good place."
India too have reportedly sent their bids to host the WTC final, however, India's home schedule generally runs from October to February-March. However, given the busy scheduling and packed FTP, it's almost impossible to find a window in the second half of the year and hence, it happening immediately after the IPL makes sense. Spreading the final would help the game's growth and all that and Test cricket would be better for it.
Cummins also advocated the WTC as a concept and why it has become the ultimate title for Australia to go back-to-back and win it again badly as it has provided the context to every assignment for two years and then be able to compete in the final and go for the mace.
"It's an ICC event where every Test playing nation is competing, so we want to win that," Cummins said. "Someone's going to win the trophy. We want it to be us.
"It gives relevance to some two-match series that perhaps otherwise get lost in the calendar. We talk about it a lot. We think it's awesome," he added. June 11-15, Lord's it is, then.