Will it be a tall order for England to qualify for the World Test Championship final?

England’s captain Joe Root holds aloft the Wisden Trophy after England won the Test series 2-1 against the West Indies. (© AFP)
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works of the ICC World Test Championship schedule and a few Test series have been already postponed this year. Nevertheless, England beat the West Indies 2-1 and Pakistan 1-0 in back-to-back three-match series, closing-in with Australia in the points table.
England are on 292 points, only four behind second-placed Australia, with whom they drew a five-match series 2-2. While England have completed four series, Australia have played three so far.
As mentioned in this column’s April issue, the dominance of Australia and India means that any series challenger for the top two positions would need to target around 500 points.