Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

World Test final takes centre stage amid T20 boom

This week’s match marks the culmination of the second edition

World Test final takes centre stage amid T20 boom

The World Test Championship final between Australia and India at the Oval in London starts on Wednesday (7) against a backdrop of fears for the long format given the growth of Twenty20 franchise leagues.

Not that there's anything new about cricket-lovers worrying about the future of their sport.

Indeed, it was following an 1882 Test at the Oval, after Australia had inflicted England's first defeat on home soil, that the Sporting Times published a mock obituary of English cricket that referenced its cremation, with "the Ashes taken to Australia".

The Ashes has since become a shorthand for Anglo-Australian Test cricket, with a five-match series in England starting next week - just days after the scheduled finish of the WTC final.

One current concern is that the riches on offer to leading players from T20 tournament such as the Indian Premier League, and the vastly shorter time it takes to earn the money than by playing five-day Test cricket, makes the traditional format of the game much less attractive to leading modern-day players.

The International Cricket Council's response was to devise the WTC, a two-year cycle of games culminating in a final, in order to give Test cricket greater context.

This week's match marks the culmination of the second edition, with New Zealand having defeated India in the inaugural 2021 final at Southampton.

Australia and India are two of cricket's major on and off-field powers, together with England, and the 'Big Three' play the majority of five-match Test series.

The proximity of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston starting on June 16 has led to the WTC final being labelled a "warm-up" game for Australia.

'Big week'

But Australia star batsman Steve Smith, whose side just missed out on the inaugural final, after losing their last home series against India, is adamant it is a match his side want to win just as much as a 50-over or T20 World Cup final.

"We're all just looking forward to this (match against India)," Smith told reporters at the Oval on Monday (5).

"It's two years in the making, of getting to the final of the World Test Championship, it's a big week for us and India, so we'll get through this then we'll focus after that.

"Every game you play for your country is important."

And India coach Rahul Dravid said: "It's something you aspire to, to be in the top two teams so you get an opportunity to play this game."

The former India batsman added the fact New Zealand had won the first final after qualifying via the ICC's weighted points system, was proof of how teams whose cricket economics mean they are often restricted to two-Test series, could still be competitive at Test level.

"If you play less, you still have the opportunity to make it to the final, as New Zealand showed last time," said Dravid. "Actually, playing less gives you an opportunity to protect your resources."

When India, now cricket's financial powerhouse, won the 1983 one-day World Cup final, it transformed the format's status in the sport's most populous nation and with it the economy of the global game.

It was a similar story in 2007 when Indian officials' scepticism about T20 cricket evaporated after India's dramatic victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2007 World Twenty20 final in South Africa.

Dravid, however, was sceptical over whether a victory for India, set to be roared on by thousands of passionate fans at the Oval, the south London headquarters of county side Surrey, would have a similar effect.

"Test cricket faces unique challenges, which are not necessarily going to change as a result of one game," he said.

(AFP)

More For You

death stranding

Several early Death Stranding 2 reviews emphasise the game’s meditative pace and symbolic narrative

YouTube/ KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS

Death Stranding 2 review roundup: Kojima’s slow, surreal sequel divides opinion

Key points

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach releases on 26 June 2025 for PlayStation 5
  • Critics highlight its stylised storytelling, visual design, and A-list cast
  • Gameplay centres on post-apocalyptic cargo delivery and exploration
  • Reviews call it hypnotic, emotional, and sometimes frustratingly slow
  • Players are divided over its pacing, symbolism, and niche appeal

A cinematic sequel that’s both familiar and strange

Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach launches worldwide on 26 June, and early impressions suggest it’s just as unconventional as the original. Described by critics as a “hypnotising, slow-paced art-house game,” the sequel continues the unique blend of traversal gameplay, cinematic storytelling and surreal world-building introduced in Death Stranding (2019).

Set in an alternate future where the boundary between life and death has collapsed, the sequel follows protagonist Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus) as he leaves his quiet life in Mexico to reconnect isolated communities across Mexico and Australia. The goal: restore access to a high-tech communication system called the chiral network in the wake of a fragmented, post-disaster world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Government launches urgent national maternity care probe

Black women nearly three times more likely to die during childbirth compared to white women, while Asian mothers face double the risk. (Photo for representation: iStock)

Government launches urgent national maternity care probe

HEALTH SECRETARY Wes Streeting has ordered an immediate nationwide probe into England's maternity services following a string of NHS scandals that have cost the lives of hundreds of mothers and babies.

The fast-track investigation will focus on the country's poorest-performing maternity and baby care units, with findings expected by December 2025, the BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Hardeep Singh Puri

India's Hardeep Singh Puri, who is leading a 7-member delegation, meets Irish prime minister Micheal Martin. The delegation paid tribute to the victims of the Air India Kanishka bombing at the Ahakista Memorial, on the 40th anniversary of the incident, in County Cork, Ireland. (Photo: PTI Photo)

PTI Photo

On Kanishka bombing anniversary, India's Puri calls for end to terror financing

INDIAN minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday (23) called for ending funding channels to terrorists and separatists and urged collective action to counter global terrorism, as he paid tribute to the victims of the Air India Flight 182 Kanishka bombing on its 40th anniversary.

The Montreal–London–New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded mid-air on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board. The flight was 45 minutes away from landing at London’s Heathrow Airport. Most of those killed were Canadians of Indian origin.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mohini Dey
Mohini Dey has played with legends across continents and\u00a0now she\u2019s stepping into the spotlight with her own voice
Instagram/dey_bass

Exclusive: Mohini Dey on breaking barriers in music — “I wasn’t hired for being a woman, I was hired because I deliver”

Mohini Dey laughs down the line, a deep, unfiltered chuckle that cuts through the noise. “Ronnie Scott’s? With my band, playing my music? That’s crazy,” she says, still letting it sink in. Speaking exclusively to Eastern Eye from Los Angeles, where she recently wrapped a show at the Hollywood Bowl with Willow Smith, the 28-year-old bassist is now preparing for her first headline performance in the UK this July.

For Dey, who grew up riding Mumbai’s local trains with a Walkman and no room for childhood distractions, this moment feels both improbable and hard-earned. It’s the kind of full-circle milestone that doesn’t come from luck, but from surviving, insisting, and showing up anyway.

Keep ReadingShow less
International yoga day

International Day of Yoga stood as a powerful reminder of yoga’s enduring role in personal and collective transformation

Parmarth Niketan

Global leaders gather in Rishikesh for 11th International Day of Yoga

Key points

  • The 11th International Day of Yoga was celebrated at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh
  • Ambassadors, high commissioners, and guests from over 25 countries participated
  • The event followed the global theme: “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”
  • The Common Yoga Protocol was conducted by trained instructors with government audio
  • Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati Ji led the spiritual programme
  • Celebrations concluded with a World Peace Yajna and the national anthem

A global gathering on the banks of the Ganga

Rishikesh, 21 June – The 11th International Day of Yoga was marked by a large-scale, spiritually uplifting gathering at Parmarth Niketan Ashram on the banks of the River Ganga. Diplomats, dignitaries, and yoga enthusiasts from over 25 countries participated in the celebration, which followed the global theme of “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”.

The event began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp and the recitation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. The session featured the Common Yoga Protocol conducted by trained instructors to the government-issued audio guide.

Keep ReadingShow less