The hallowed ground of Lord’s plays host to the two top teams in Men’s Test Cricket in the ICC World Test Championship Final – streaming on Prime Video.
The Test Final is scheduled for June 11 -15, with play starting each day at 7:30 PM AEST.
On June 11, the eyes of the cricketing world will be focused on one place. That place is the oldest and most famous cricket ground in the world, the spiritual home of cricket, Lord’s Cricket Ground. The legendary British venue, established in 1787 by Thomas Lord, is steeped in over 200 years of history and tradition. And that legend is going to continue with this year’s Cricket World Test Championship Final between Australia and South Africa.
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is a biennial cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council and is considered the “flagship event of the international cricket calendar”. The final will attract 31,000 punters every day with a worldwide audience of millions including those in Australia streaming exclusively on Prime Video.
None of the romance and poetry of the sport has been lost
This may be sport as a global event but none of the romance and poetry of the sport has been lost. Those moments when the batter steps up the crease to protect the wicket from the bowler’s arsenal of tricks always elicits excitement. It’s one of the great sporting duels and this final will be no exception. The Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada is ranked world no. 2 and took 47 wickets on his team’s road to the final and Aussie batter Travis Head scored a huge 163 runs in the 2023 final stages against India.
The inaugural ICC World Test Championship began with the 2019 Ashes series between England and Australia and finished with New Zealand lifting the trophy, known as the ICC Test Championship Mace, after defeating India in the final in June 2021.
The second championship started on August 4, 2021, with the England–India series and finished with Australia victorious after taking on India in the final in June 2023. The third ICC World Test Championship started with the Ashes series on June 16, 2023, at Edgbaston before concluding with this much-ballyhooed return trip to Lords for the final. This is lightyears beyond the reassuring sound of the cricket ball hitting the willow on a sunny afternoon at your local oval.
The world championship is sure to be a thrilling test for Australia. Having beaten India in a series for the first time in a decade and whitewashing Sri Lanka en route to the final, the Antipodeans are the team to beat. The South African team will certainly be considered the underdogs before the Umpire steps up to the bowler’s end and shouts “Play.” That’s paying them a great disservice as the team fought to the top of the WTC standings with seven straight victories in tests against West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The anticipation is palpable, the final marks Australia’s first match at the hallowed ground since the infamous Ashes clash with the Brits in 2023 when Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped by Aussie Alex Carey causing a furore in the Marylebone Cricket Club “Long Room” and chaos in the stands.
Aussie batter Steve Smith spoke briefly with ICC Digital in London as the squad prepared for the up and coming test match. “I am excited to be back in the UK for another World Test Championship Final,” Smith said. “It is great to be here and I love playing cricket in England. It’s a little bit fresh today and there is a little bit of wind around, but it’s nice to start our preparation and get a bit of rhythm, hit quite a few balls and we are looking forward to Lord’s now.”
You don’t need any motivation to play a final against Australia
The South African team is equally as thrilled to step out onto the Lords’ wicket as spinner Keshav Maharaj told Cricket South Africa. “Having had the break, I am excited to get back together with the boys. [The] guys have been playing all over, in different competitions, but now we have some time to really get close and focus,” he continued. “I have been working hard on my bowling and conditioning and I think we needed a mental break. But you don’t need any motivation to play a final against Australia.”
The test match is another win for Prime Video as they increase their roster of live-to-air sports coverage. Sport is already a major player for the streamer. Soccer, or football as it should be known, is well represented via BeIN Sports. The Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga leagues along with the English Football League Cup (aka Carabao Cup) are all available to watch live. Stateside sports fans can purchase an additional NFL Game Pass to get their Grid Iron fix and basketball is represented by the WNBA where every game is streamed live.
Now with the addition of the Cricket World Test Championship Final to Prime Video’s squad, they have given fans something to cheer about. No matter who ends up lifting the coveted trophy. For patriots, die-hard supporters, armchair enthusiasts and The 12th Man listeners alike, if you like cricket, or you love cricket, this final promises to be a must watch event.
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