Nathan Lyon urges ICC to make critical change to World Test Championships finals' format

Ace Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to make The World Test Champion a best-of-three event. On Tuesday it was announced that the finals of the World Test Championships final will be played at Lord’s starting on 11th June. So far, the table is being led by India with a win percentage of 68 after 9 games. 

Nathan Lyon during his chat with the official ICC review show said “One thing I would like to see, I'd like to see the World Test Championship Final potentially in a three-match series”

Also Read: Lords to host World Test Championship 2023-25 final

The Australian spinner also said “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”

Nathan Lyon calls World Test Championships his ‘World Cup’ 

The Australian off-spinner doesn’t play the white ball format too much. So all his energy is concentrated on the red ball format. Nathan Lyon will be a key player for Australia during the upcoming series versus India. 

While speaking to the ICC review show, Lyon also said “It's massive, but I feel like the World Test Championship for me is like the World Cup and that's a genuine big World Cup. When you are competing against the best for long periods of time over a two-year period, you have to be good for the whole lot”

Nathan Lyon isn’t the only one who has asked for the World Test Championships finals to have 3 games. Even Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had advocated for the same after the 2023 finals ended. 

The Aussie star also said “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.”

One of the key features that WTC has got rid of according to Nathan Lyon is ‘dead rubbers’. Since the start of the World Test Championships, all the teams look for a win to make it upward in the table. 

“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.” Said Lyon while speaking on the ICC Review show