Ashes, World Test Championship or World Cup: Players rank cricket’s ultimate prize

Is the World Test Championship final a glorified Ashes tour game, the pinnacle for Australia or somewhere between? DANIEL CHERNY gets some answers from Mitchell Starc and teammates.

With more trophies up for grabs than ever in international cricket, where do players’ priorities lie?

Imagine you were trying to explain cricket to someone who knew nothing about the sport.

You’d explain batting and bowling, the idea of innings, a few major modes of dismissal.

And then you’d probably get to how there are different iterations of the game. You might explain Twenty20 or 50-over cricket, but then mention how Test cricket is the oldest of the formats and still widely seen as the pinnacle of the sport, even in a changing landscape.

If you were having such a chat with a novice this week, you might mention how the World Test Championship (WTC) final starts on Wednesday. If the beginner hadn’t yet nodded off they’d probably think that a world championship final in what is the sport’s most prestigious and time-honoured format would be the biggest deal on the cricket calendar this year.

And then you’d have to clarify that some pundits are billing it as no more than a glorified warm-up match.

Welcome to the curious concept that is the WTC. Its second finale begins on Wednesday at The Oval, where Australia confronts India.

The Australian team in Beckenham preparing for the WTC Final against India. Picture: Tom Dulat-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

While World Cups in men’s and women’s cricket were both first held in the 1970s, the idea of being able to crown a top side in Test cricket was floated for years before the ICC in 2001 introduced a Test world championship trophy based on a rolling ranking system, similar to that used in tennis.

But the idea of having a more conventional league table had support and, after several false starts, the inaugural WTC cycle began in mid-2019, culminating in a final two years later between India and New Zealand. Australia had been in the box seat to qualify for that match for much of the two-year window, only to lose its grip on a spot late in the piece on the back of an over rate penalty during the 2020 Boxing Day Test, a home series loss to India, and the fact a trip to South Africa was aborted because of the pandemic.

The Black Caps won that first final in Southampton. For some members of the Australian squad it was only then that they realised how big a deal it was.

“I remember when it first came out and I thought ‘What’s the relevance of it? I’m not really buying into it all’. And then to miss out on the first one, and see the game, and you see it’s kind of a cool concept,” paceman Mitchell Starc told CODE Sports.

“Certainly for those who only play Test cricket, it’s your Test World Cup almost.”

But while the Aussies will to a man be vying to win the match, what is less clear is where it sits in cricket’s global pecking order.

The final will be yet another clash between Australia and India. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

The nature of the cricket calendar is that there is no grand final or Super Bowl. Even tennis has its four clearly defined grand slam events, as golf does with its majors. In cricket, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

When Australia was eliminated early from its home T20 World Cup last year, Glenn Maxwell courted controversy by saying that his side’s exit “doesn’t mean anything” because the circuit just rolled on without time for a breather. Maxwell later claimed he was taken out of context, but in any case he made a more than reasonable point.

Think about what this year looks like for Cameron Green or David Warner. The end of a home Test series against South Africa into a brief Big Bash League stint into a Test tour of India into one-dayers in India into the Indian Premier League into the WTC final into the Ashes into more white-ball matches leading into a World Cup, more T20s in India and then the start of a home Test series against Pakistan.

Who has time to savour anything?

For off-spinner Todd Murphy, new to the scene, it is a matter of not looking too far ahead through his bifocals.

“It’s one of those ones that you probably perceive whatever’s next, you sort of perceive as the biggest,” Murphy says.

Despite the prestige of the Ashes, Aussie players are still placing the WTC higher. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Wicketkeeper Alex Carey has represented his country across all three formats and says that the WTC final has surged to the top of the leaderboard in terms of importance.

“Being able to play all three formats, I probably get the biggest excitement and buzz leading into a Test match and winning a Test series,” Carey says.

“What happens in a Test match over the journey, emotionally and physically, is obviously a bit tougher.

“Having the World Test championship there is obviously really exciting, and now the Ashes in England is probably the second biggest carrot there (behind the WTC final).”

He gives a qualifier though: “(It’s) hard to rank them.”

Brendon Julian, a member of both Ashes and 50-over World Cup winning squads for Australia, says the 140-year history of the former means it holds sway over some of the newer prizes.

Winning the World Test Championship would feel similar to the joy of winning the 50-over World Cup. Picture: Michael Dodge-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

“World Cups are always special. Test match series are special as well. I’m not putting down the World Test Championship but that will be a warm-up Test match for the first Test match,” Julian says.

“(Players) may remember that they won a one-off Test match against India at The Oval but at the end of the day it will pale into insignificance if they win this Test series against England.

“Ashes cricket is always the pinnacle. I think 50-over World Cup are special events as well, because it’s got so much history.

“The World Test Championship, the T20 World Cups, those things don’t have the history yet. They may get there. But I don’t think they will pass an Ashes, a Border-Gavaskar, or a 50-over World Cup campaign.”

Marcus Harris agrees with Julian, but only to an extent.

“You’d probably be telling a fib if you said that it was as big as the Ashes, because I don’t think it is. But it’s obviously a great reward for the team that wins it, just to sort of prove that you can be the best Test side in the world,” Harris says.

“By no means will it be a warm-up game for us.”

The Aussies won’t be approaching the one-off Test against India as a warm-up match. Picture: Tom Dulat-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

For Starc, who has for several years opted out of the IPL to prioritise his national commitments, there is an acceptance that the carousel stops for no one.

“Test cricket, and then the rest,” Starc says when ranking the titles.

“The Test championship creates an interesting addition. Likewise I’ve been fortunate enough to play in a few white-ball World Cups over the years and to win one in each certainly sits pretty high in achievements for the teams that I’ve played in.

“But for three-format players now you’ve got to really switch to the next thing very quickly. You don’t really have time anymore. We get a couple of weeks to hopefully enjoy an Ashes win. Because you’re not straight onto the next thing. But then we go to South Africa into a one-day series in India straight into a World Cup then a home summer into white-ball into a New Zealand tour.

“But at the same time in the same discussion, you’ve sill got to reflect and be able to enjoy those moments of success.”

Originally published as Ashes, World Test Championship or World Cup: Players rank cricket’s ultimate prize