Lord's date: Fuzzy priorities and an imperfect WTC final

The World Test Championship is keeping Test cricket running outside the Big Three, but barely

- Rasesh Mandani

MUMBAI: When Australia began their World Test Championship (WTC) campaign, David Warner was still around facing James Anderson and Stuart Broad. That feels like such a long time ago when you consider how Warner has moved on to become a T20 freelancer. Anderson will soon have a trophy named after him to settle retirement pangs, if any. With Broad, he's hopped to the South African corner as bowling consultant — to offer a crash course on beating old enemy Australia.

The length of the playing cycle, however, is the least prickly of issues with WTC. Pat Cummins and Temba Bavuma posed with the WTC mace made of sterling silver and gold plates at Lord's on match eve amid some disquiet over their contrasting lead-ins to make the final. Australia (19 Tests) survived the rigours of two five-Test series against England and India, while South Africa qualified with bare minimum participation (12 Tests).

"I'm tired of speaking about it, to be honest. We're here and that's all that matters. We get a chance to walk away as the World Test champions," said Shukri Conrad, South Africa head coach.