On Monday, the acting CEO of the ICC, Geoff Allardice announced that the winning team of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) will be receiving a hug prize money of USD 1.6 million along with the Test championship mace. In an interaction with a selected group of media, Allardice stated that the runner-up team will be getting the reward of USD 8,00,000 and the amount could be split evenly if the match ends in a draw.
As per the quotes in ESPNCricinfo, Allardice said, “They (the teams) tend to be playing for the Test mace. It has come to symbolise the best team in Test cricket, and with the Test championship now being used as the vehicle to identify the best team in Test cricket, the mace is on offer over the five days in Southampton.”
The 2019 World Cup-winning team was awarded $4 million, while the runners-up got $ 2 million. Geoff Allardice also shared his excitement for the inaugural Test championship final.
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Allardice, who has reached Southampton explained, “Twelve months ago, we were looking ahead with great uncertainty where we were probably halfway through with the first cycle of the WTC, and we had to try to make our way forward to a final and reach a conclusion. To be sitting here in quarantine, it is pleasing to be looking forward to the final ahead between two top teams in the world.”
He further added, “There has been a lot of things going on behind the scenes to get to this point. At one point, it looked like there would be some significant disruption to the WTC and the series leading up to the final, but in the end, we had a good culmination between December and March with teams in the running to make the final and as it turned out, the top two teams have qualified for the final.”
While the tournament had a mixed response initially, the excitement levels peaked towards the later stages, with at least four teams battling for the two coveted spots.
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Talking about the same, Allardice said, “The aim of creating the competition four years ago was to try and bring about that sort of interest in Test cricket, globally. And it always has a strong focus with the two countries involved in each series. In the minds of a lot of people those last three or four months, painted a picture as to what the future might look like for the World Test Championship, and I think we were really pleased with the way it played out.”
WTC prize money
- Winning team: $ 1.6 million and the ICC Test Championship Mace
- Runner-up: $8,00,000
- Third: $ 450,000
- Fourth: $350,000
- Fifth: $200,000
- Remaining four teams to get $100000 each
