ICC confident inaugural World Test Championship will be completed

Cricket's world governing body are set to announce how points for postponed series will be distributed

^{England's tour of Sri Lanka was among the first victims of the pandemic}

• International fixtures
• Broadcast deal saved ECB from "financial oblivion"

The International Cricket Council are optimistic the first edition of the World Test Championship will reach a climax in 2021 despite the group phase being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Six series have had to be cut short or pulled completely due to the crisis and are unlikely to be rescheduled during the 2019-21 cycle.

An announcement regarding how points for those Tests will be distributed is imminent.

The competition is due to resume in December when New Zealand face West Indies and Australia take on India but the upcoming schedule is entirely dependent on the virus.

The format sees the top nine ranked sides play six series, three home and home away, over a 20-month period with points awarded for wins and draws. The top two sides at the end of the cycle were due to contest a one-off final at Lord's in June 2021.

"The planning is still in progress," an ICC spokesman told Reuters when asked about the final, which the England and Wales Cricket Board remain hopeful of staging.

"There is likely to be more clarity in the coming days once all stakeholders are aligned. There will be an announcement on this soon."

India and Australia are currently top of the WTC table, while Bangladesh - who have managed just three Tests during the period - sit bottom.

England, who have been largely unaffected by the pandemic, are third having managed to play 15 Tests. The bio-secure bubble created by the ECB ensured the summer series against West Indies and Pakistan were fulfiled, albeit behind closed doors.

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