This tournament was initially proposed in 2009 when the ICC met the MCC to talk about organizing a Test match competition. Martin Crowe, a former captain of New Zealand, was one of the major minds behind this idea. In July 2010 ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat recommended a quadrennial event with the four best-ranked teams playing in the semi-finals and a final, to reinvigorate waning interest in the longest version of the sport. The first competition was intended to take the place of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in Wales and England.

The ICC Chief Executives' Committee discussed the notion of a Test championship during a meeting at their head office located in Dubai in the middle of September 2010. Colin Gibson, a spokesman for the ICC, said that much more information will be revealed after the conference and that Lord's would be the preferred final venue if the competition were to be held in England. As predicted, the ICC accepted the concept and confirmed that the inaugural tournament will be staged in Wales and England in 2013. Also, the tournament's structure was disclosed. All ten current Test cricket participating countries (Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan, England, New Zealand, India, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh) would play in the inaugural league stage over four years.

The top four teams from the league stage advance to the playoffs, where the winner of the Test cricket championship will be determined. There was some disagreement over whether the top four teams or the top eight teams would compete in the play-off, but the board unanimously decided on the latter. Also, it was declared that the competition will take the place of the ICC Champions Trophy. Concerning how to resolve ties in knockout stage matches, no decision had been made.

Nevertheless, the ICC said in 2011 that the Test Championship would not occur until 2017 and that the 2013 event would be scrapped due to board-wide financial issues and its obligation to sponsors and broadcasters. England and Wales, the initial hosts of this postponed tournament were granted the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy rather, than the tournament that the Test Championship was meant to replace. The ICC was criticized by both Greg Chappell & Graeme Smith for delaying the Test Championship, claiming that doing so was improper and unjustifiable. According to The Guardian, Lord's, which was supposed to host the final, was hurt by this postponement.

The largest prize for the game's longest format is the ICC (WTC). To provide each nation that participates in Test cricket a supreme prize to fight for as they compete in bilateral series, the World Test Championship was established. Being the victors of the first event, New Zealand is the defending champion after defeating India in the WTC final. The ICC has confirmed that the 2021–23 WTC edition final would be contested at Lord's in June 2023.

Compared to test cricket, the limited-overs forms have attracted greater attention and a wider audience of gamblers. To offer the game's oldest form a viewpoint and a fresh start with the WTC, the ICC proactively developed a championship. Test cricket will continue to be your first passion if you are a game purist. All of this creates an interesting prospect for the spectators, viewers, and bettors who attempt to anticipate the outcome of the game beforehand as the odds makers create the odds indicating the best team to win in the particular circumstance.