Throughout the tournament's two-year duration, 69 games split across 27 series were planned for the league stage, from which the top two teams progressed to the championship game. Each team was slated for six series, with three at home & three away. There were two to five Test matches in each series. Each player took part in 12 to 22 games. Five days were allotted for each match's duration.

During the ICC Chief Executives' conference in April 2012, it was announced that the ICC Champions Trophy will be last conducted in 2013 with the inaugural Test Championship play-offs being slated for June 2017. The Champions Trophy will no longer be held since the Cricket World Cup is the main competition for 50-over cricket, according to the ICC, which stated that there would only be one trophy for each version of the game. The final might have maintained the classic timeless test format. Further modifications in the structure of the championship were further discussed. Nevertheless, the 2017 ICC World Test Championship was dropped and replaced with the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in January 2014.

First Season (2019-2021):

The 2019 Ashes series marked the start of the inaugural event. Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, competitions were halted in March 2020. They did not resume until July 2020, and several series of matches were eventually postponed or canceled. After it was announced that the series between South Africa & Australia would not continue, New Zealand became the first side to qualify for the final, followed by India. India and New Zealand squared off in the first World Test Championship Final from June 18 to June 23 at Southampton's Rose Bowl in England. Rain ruined the first and fourth days of the championship match, but New Zealand prevailed in the final session of the reserve day to win the inaugural World Test Championship trophy.

Second Season (2021-2023):

The second edition of the ICC World Test Championship for Test cricket took place from 2021 to 2023. It started on August 4th, 2021, and culminated on June 7th–11th, 2021, with the Final at The Oval in London. The second round of the World Test Championship began on August 4, 2021, with the five-match Pataudi Trophy versus England and India. That series, as well as the Ashes in December 2021, have been the only two series comprising five (5) Tests in the 2nd WTC cycle. The current winners were New Zealand. The World Test Championship final for this season played at The Oval in June 2023, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced in September 2022.

The previous edition had a different points system. In this version, regardless of how many matches made up a series, 12 points were available for each match. A victory was awarded a maximum of 12 points, while a tie, a draw, and a defeat were each worth 6, 4, and 0 points, respectively. A team that was behind the acceptance rate at the end of a match would have one point deducted for each over it was behind. The league table's team rankings were determined, like in the previous edition, by the ratio of total points earned to total points contested.

Third Season (2023-2025):

The 2023–2025 WTC, which began with the Ashes in June 2023 and concluded with the final at Lord’s in June 2025, involved nine Test-playing nations in 27 series and 69 league matches. South Africa emerged at the top of the standings, claiming eight wins from 12 Tests (with one draw and three losses), finishing with a 69.44% points success rate. Australia closely followed, winning 13 of their 19 matches; however, they suffered two slow-over-rate penalties costing them 10 points.

Financially and politically, the stakes were higher than ever: the ICC increased prize money significantly: champions earning USD 3.6 million and the runners-up USD 2.16 million, up from USD 1.6 million and USD 800,000 in the previous two cycles. TV coverage was extensive across Indian platforms like Star Sports and JioCinema, Sky Sports in the UK, Willow TV in North America, and SuperSport in South Africa, sharpening its appeal for betting audiences who rely on comprehensive live data.

On 11–14 June 2025 at Lord’s, the final featured reigning champions Australia versus South Africa. Despite a shaky first innings where South Africa was dismissed for 138 (after bundling Australia for 212), the match swung dramatically. In the fourth innings chase, Aiden Markram’s unbeaten 136, his maiden century in an ICC final, and a composed knock from captain Temba Bavuma ended a 27-year ICC title drought for South Africa. In front of a packed Lord’s crowd, enduring intense sledging from Australia, they secured a five-wicket win to lift their first WTC mace. This victory earned them the USD 3.6 million and immense national pride, shedding the "chokers" tag and prompting emotional celebrations. One betting-relevant fact: they completed the chase before lunch on day four, an unusually swift finish for a Test final.

South Africa now stands as the third nation to claim the WTC mace, joining New Zealand (2021) and Australia (2023). The final itself was gritty and tense; a classic Lord’s showdown where South Africa overcame early collapses to clinch the title by five wickets, etching a dramatic chapter in Test history.

A significant feature of this edition was the grueling schedule that includes several high-stakes series, such as the ongoing rivalry between India and Australia, which was culminate in a five-match Test series in Australia (also refer to as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy). This season also saw strategic alterations in points distribution and qualification scenarios, making every match critical.