Ben Stokes finds World Test Championship concept ‘utterly confusing’, claims England not targeting WTC finals

England Test captain Ben Stokes has said that he has found the idea of the World Test Championship “utterly confusing” as his side finds itself reeling on the sixth spot of the WTC standings, having already been eliminated from the race for the 2023-25 edition’s final.

Stokes’ comments came ahead of the opening Test of the Thorpe-Crowe Trophy on Thursday, part of the World Test Championship in which New Zealand stand fourth. England, who finished fourth in the previous WTC cycle, have only won nine of their 19 Tests this cycle.

The English all-rounder, who unlocked the ‘Bazball’ philosophy with head coach Brendon McCullum since taking over the reigns of the side, claimed that England only take things “game by game, series by series”, insisting their principles do not align with WTC format that is spread across two-year cycles.

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“In all honesty, the World Test Championship, it is a bit confusing, it’s one of those where, you know we don’t really look at it, I don’t look at it,” Stokes told reporters. “It’s one of those where over a long period of time if you’re playing really good cricket, you’re getting results that you want, you’ll end up finding yourself there in the final and in the mix.”

“For me and this team it’s about taking it game by game, series by series and if you end up finding yourself in the position where you happen to be in that world test championship final, then it’s great but it’s a real weird one knowing that you’re playing for something over a long period of time.”

“I can’t remember if I’ve ever even given any real time to be specifically thinking about the World Test Championship to be honest because it’s utterly confusing, we play a lot more cricket than anyone else does, that’s just what we try and focus on, you know, if we play well, we’ll be there or thereabouts but if we don’t, then we won’t be.”

England have played 29 Tests since 2020 under Stokes, winning 17, losing 11 and drawing only one Test, emphasising a result-oriented approach. England have yet to make the WTC final across three editions.

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India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka find themselves locked in the race for next year’s final to be held at Lord’s from June 11-15.

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