Cricketing boards welcome ICC World Test Championship

New Delhi: "It's official! The ICC World Test Championship is here. The Proteas start their campaign with an away series in India followed by England at home over December and January," CSA tweeted.

Cricketing boards on Monday welcomed the launch of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), beginning August 1 with the first Ashes Test between Australia and England.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) in a tweet said the Proteas will start their campaign with an away series in India followed by England at home.

England Cricket wrote, "The inaugural ICC World Test Championship begins at Edgbaston on Thursday."

New Zealand, also known as BlackCaps, revealed the names and numbers on the Kiwi players' jerseys, saying, "Names and numbers for Test cricket are here! Our @ICC World Test Championship launch at @BayOvalOfficial providing the first chance to see the players in their new shirts."

BlackCaps in another tweet shared the schedule of New Zealand's fixtures in the World Test Championship.

"Which aspect of the @ICC World Test Championship are you most looking forward to?" the BlackCaps said.

The teams will wear names and numbers on the back of their Test jerseys, which is an ICC initiative to help fans connect with players.

WTC was announced last year, with the top nine full member nations -- Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies -- competing in a total of 71 Test matches across 27 bi-lateral series over two years.

The top two teams with most points as of April 30, 2021, will then contest in the WTC final in June 2021 in the UK. Each of the nine teams will play six of the eight possible opponents across a two-year period, with three series at home and as many series away and a total of 120 points up for grab within each series.