While the dust is yet to fully settle on the 2019 ICC World Cup in England, attention shifts to the inaugural World Test Championship which officially begins on August 1.

Created to provide context to the five-day format, the inaugural Championship will see the coronation of the top Test side in the world after the completion of a two-year cycle which ends on July, 2021.

The Test Championship is all set to start with a bang with arch-rivals England and Australia battling it out in the first Ashes Test at Birmingham beginning on August 1.

HOW THE TEST CHAMPIONSHIP WORKS

The inaugural World Test Championship will see the nine top-ranked sides play six series apiece over a two-year cycle. Each side will play three series on home soil and three away from home with the ICC mandating that ever series should comprise of at least two Tests with a maximum of five games.

Each series will have 120 points on offer for the contesting sides and the two sides with the maximum points at the end of July, 2019 will contest the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, England.

The first Ashes Test will kickstart the World Championship.

Should the final at Lord’s end in a draw or a tie, the team which finished ahead on points in the two-year cycle shall be awarded the World Test Championship.

Apart from matches in the official World Test Championship, teams are free to play Test matches which will not contribute towards their points tally. For example, teams can schedule Tests with sides such as Ireland and Afghanistan but they will not be a part of the Test Championship.

POINTS SYSTEM

Each series which is a part of the Test Championship will have 120 points on offer irrespective of its length. Hence, a team will have a total of 720 points on offer over the course of the two-year cycle.

The points on offer will be the same for all series in the cycle and will not depend on whether it is a home game or an away one.

WHO PLAYS WHO

INDIA

Home series: South Africa, Bangladesh and England

Away series: West Indies, New Zealand and Australia

Total Tests: 18 (10 home and eight away)

NEW ZEALAND

Home series: India, West Indies and Pakistan

Away series: Sri Lanka, Australia and Bangladesh

Total Tests: 14 (seven home and seven away)

SOUTH AFRICA

Home series: England, Sri Lanka and Australia

Away series: India, West Indies and Pakistan

Total Tests: 16 (nine home and seven away)

ENGLAND

Home series: Australia, West Indies and Pakistan

Away series: South Africa, Sri Lanka and India

Total Tests: 22 (11 home and 11 away)

AUSTRALIA

Home series: Pakistan, New Zealand and India

Away series: England, Bangladesh and South Africa

Total Tests: 19 (nine home and 10 away)

SRI LANKA

Home series: New Zealand, England and Bangladesh

Away series: Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies

Total Tests: 13 (Seven home and six away)

PAKISTAN

Home series: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa

Away series: Australia, England and New Zealand

Total Tests: 13 (six home and seven away)

WEST INDIES

Home series: India, South Africa and Sri Lanka

Away series: England, New Zealand and Bangladesh

Total Tests: 15 (six home and nine away)

BANGLADESH

Home series: Australia, New Zealand and West Indies

Away series: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Total Tests: 14 (Seven home and seven away)