Nathan Lyon calls for change in ICC World Test Championship final, comes up with new idea

Nathan Lyon was part of Australia’s team that won the ICC WTC 2023 final against India.

Veteran Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has proposed for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final to be a three-match series held across three different nations. However, he does understand the time constraint in the already jam-packed schedule of the top teams.

Lyon, part of Australia’s ICC WTC 2023 winning team, opined that a three-match series to decide the winners of a tournament that lasts for two years is much fairer than a one-off test match.

He pointed out that a test match can swing in just one session, while a three-match series across varying conditions will test all skills, range and stamina of the teams and players.

Nathan Lyon told the ICC, “One thing I would like to see, I’d like to see the World Test Championship Final potentially in a three-match series. That may become a little bit better because you potentially can lose using a Test match in one session where [in a three-match series] it may allow teams to bounce back all your show their dominance and win 3-0. We’re pretty time-poor anyway and that’s going to be a challenge but that’s one thing I would change.

“You potentially could go one in England, one in India, one in Australia, so you have all different conditions, but obviously, the timing of that changes everything. I don’t think we’re going to get on the MCG in the middle of August, just putting it out there.”

There’s no more dead rubbers: Nathan Lyon

One aspect of the WTC that Nathan Lyon is happy about is that the tournament has eliminated the dead rubbers in bilateral series. Even if a team is 2-0 up in a three-match series, the third test still would carry significance.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll just say it’s [World Test Championship] the pinnacle for Test cricket. People say it’s sometimes a dead rubber when you turn 2-0 up in a three-match series or whatever it may be. But I feel like there’s no more dead rubbers. I’ve never considered them dead rubbers, but there’s always points on offer now. You look at us last year losing against West Indies at the Gabba hurt us a fair bit,” the off-spinner asserted.

Currently, in the ICC WTC 2023-25 cycle, Australia are placed second, behind India, in the standings.

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