Pat Cummins proposes a change of venue for the WTC Final

Australia and South Africa will set up the 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in England. The 2025 WTC Final marks the third edition of the marquee event that tags the winning team as the World Test Champion. All three editions have been consistently held in England. Meanwhile, England is yet to qualify for a WTC Final. Time and again, there have been discussions scrutinising the decision to have England host the summit clash. Now, Pat Cummins, the Australian captain, has spoken on the subject before he takes on South Africa in Australia's title defense of the Test mace on Wednesday, June 11.

Pat Cummins entertains the idea of the previous winner hosting WTC Final

The 2021 WTC Final, the first edition of the marquee event, was held in Southampton between India and New Zealand. In the next edition, following two years of the Test cycle, Australia locked their spot against India in the 2023 ICC WTC Final, held at The Oval. Now, Australia is gearing up to launch their title defense campaign against South Africa at Lord's on June 11. If Pat Cummins and Co. manage to beat the Proteas, Australia would become the first team to win multiple WTC Final titles. Meanwhile, the Australian captain has presented his two cents on the discussion about moving the ICC event out of England in the upcoming cycles.

Pat Cummins proposed a fresh take on the venue selection for the World Test Championship Final, suggesting that the match should be held in the country of the reigning champions. Speaking ahead of the title clash against South Africa, Cummins advocated for moving the final away from England, which has been the host nation for all three editions so far.

Amid reports that the BCCI is considering bringing the marquee final to Indian soil, Cummins appeared to welcome the possibility of a new host. However, he added that if logistical constraints made travel difficult, then only the Lord’s Cricket Ground, deemed as the home of cricket, should remain the default destination for the event.

"Logistically, it seems like that's probably the easiest way to have one venue," said Cummins. "It'd be nice, maybe the previous winner hosts that for the next time, or something like that. But as an alternative, I think having it at Lord's every cycle is also a pretty good place," he added.

Australia, the current titleholders, earned their place in the WTC Final after a dominant 3-1 victory over India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy at home. The series win meant that Pat Cummins and his team reclaimed the BGT after an extended wait of a decade. Moreover, the win at home pushed India out of WTC Final contention, making the 2025 WTC Final the first edition since the event's inception to not feature India. When asked about the significance of winning the Test championship, Cummins acknowledged the prestige that comes with the title but noted that their triumph in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup in India still stands as the greater accomplishment.

"The last four years or so have been hugely successful for this group and it's (been) such a great chunk of our careers for players and staff," Cummins said. "Having two maces is a really significant thing to show for that period of time – we feel like we have been the best team in the world across all different conditions and to hold the mace at the end of that would be a great sign of something to point to now but also down the track. The ODI World Cup of 2023 is going to be hard to top, that's number one for me," he added.

"But I do believe the (World Test Championship) mace is just below that in terms of you're up against every other team in the world and you've been successful for a couple of years to make the final, so the mace means a lot," the captain concluded.