The Oval to host World Test Championship final

THE World Test Championship final will be held at The Oval between 7th and 11th June 2023.

The finalists are yet to be decided, with Australia, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa all in with a chance of qualification.

England cannot qualify for the final, which is the culmination of a two-year cycle of Test cricket.

They sit fifth out of nine teams, having risen up the table over the past year.

However, they have no more fixtures remaining in the cycle; their two Test matches against New Zealand this month are not part of the competition.

Australia and India are favourites to reach the final and are the only two teams with their fate in their own hands.

Australia, who will face England in the Ashes from 16 June, need to draw just one of the four Tests in their forthcoming series against India to guarantee a spot in the final.

India are currently second in the table and will also reach the showpiece match if they secure a 3-1 victory over Australia in the series which started yesterday in Nagpur.

Dependent on results elsewhere, a narrower margin of victory for

India, or a drawn series could also be enough, while if Australia lose 4-0, they would only miss out on the final if Sri Lanka win both their matches in New Zealand.

There are numerous permutations that would see Sri Lanka, who are third, and fourth-placed South Africa, reach the

The International Paralympic Committee banned Russia and Belarus from the Winter Paralympics in March 2022though athletes were allowed to compete under a neutral flag.

Further sanctions were announced across other sports, including football, rugby, Formula 1, cycling and swimming, while Russian and Belarusian tennis players were banned from playing at Wimbledon last year.

Russia was banned from the previous summer Olympics in Tokyo as part of sanctions for doping scandals, though more than 300 athletes across 30 sports were able to compete, representing the Russian Olympic Committee.

Wimbledon is yet to announce if the ban it imposed last year will continue, but Russia and Belarusian players have competed at other Grand Slams, with Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka winning January's Australian Open under a neutral flag.

Bach cited the example of Sabalenka in his letter and said the IOC's discussions on

Russian and Belarusian involvement were "in line" with what happened at the Australian Open, with no "flags, national symbols or signs supporting the war" to be displayed.

Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina, who wants Russian and Belarusian players to remain banned from this year's Wimbledon, said "I don't think the neutral flag is changing anything".

Last month, President Zelensky said that "any neutral flag of Russian athletes is stained with blood" (BBC Sport).