India and New Zealand will battle it out for the prestigious title at Southampton on June 18.
ICC acting CEO Geoff Allardice said that would be possible only 'in a perfect world'.
Paceman Jofra Archer's breach of bio-secure protocols could have been a "disaster" and ended up costing the board tens of millions of pounds, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director of cricket Ashley Giles has said. England dropped Archer from the second Test against the West Indies following the breach, announcing the decision only hours before the start of the match on Thursday.
An extended 21-man Australian squad is in England for the three Twenty20 matches, which start on Sept. 4 in Southampton, before three one-day internationals in Manchester from Sept. 11.
England should not be overly reliant on express pace in the next two Tests against West Indies and must consider alternating Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, former quick Darren Gough said. England opted for the express speed of Archer and Wood and the experience of James Anderson in Southampton but lost by four wickets in the series opener.
Images from Day 2 of the ICC World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand, at The Hampshire Bowl, in Southampton, on Saturday.
Kane Williamson is aware that spin is a "big component" in a Test series in India and expects his specialist slow bowlers -- left-arm orthodox Ajaz Patel and off-spinner William Somerville -- to adapt to the conditions quickly and make a difference.
Former players Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel believe pace bowler Mohammed Shami will the hold the key for India with the ball in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand.
India will be without captain and batting mainstay Virat Kohli, who decided to skip the first of the two Tests, while batter Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will miss both matches.
Joint-leaders Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool both dropped points on a busy day of English Premier League action as Leicester City and Southampton narrowed the gap in what is shaping up to be one of the most open title races for years.
Both bowlers had contracted the dreaded virus during the currently-suspended IPL earlier this month.
India are likely to rest most of their senior players during the T20I series against New Zealand at home, which starts less than a week after the final of the T20 World Cup next month.
India and New Zealand will lock horns in the finals of WTC at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton
Shubman's stress fracture in shin could take minimum two months to heal
Virat Kohli is intense and aggressive on the field but off it he is nice and welcoming, according to his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate New Zealand pacer Kyle Jameison. The lanky pacer said the Indian skipper is extremely passionate about winning.
James Anderson is far from being done after becoming the first pacer to amass 600 Test wickets and he sees no reason why he can't enter the 700-club alongside Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan even though he has hit 38.
Kapil Dev said that playing in English conditions will be challenging and Pant needs to spend more time in the middle
Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday to book a place in next month's FA Cup final, thanks to a second-half goal by Hakim Ziyech which ended City manager Pep Guardiola's dream of steering his side to an unprecedented quadruple of titles.
West Ham United and Chelsea both narrowly avoided ignominious FA Cup exits with narrow wins against lower-league opposition but Everton marked Frank Lampard's first game in charge by sauntering past Brentford into the fifth round on Saturday.
Sachin Tendulkar leads the cricket world to hail New Zealand's triumph.
Former captain Michael Vaughan cautioned England ahead of next month's three-match Test series, saying Pakistan is a better team than the West Indies in the traditional format and can shock the home team.
England named an unchanged squad for first match of the three-Test series against Pakistan that begins on August 5 in Manchester, the country's cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday. England beat West Indies 2-1 in the first international Test series since the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the sport in March, winning the third match by 269 runs on Tuesday.
India are leading by 32 runs with eight wickets in hand, going into the final day of the title clash.
Bumrah said his controlled aggression has done wonders to his run as an international cricketer.
English Premier League matches have continued behind closed doors during the second lockdown announced on November 1. Supporters have not been allowed into sporting venues since the first lockdown was announced in March, barring a few exceptions.
Shastri has been serving as the head coach of the Indian team since 2017, having got an extension after the 2019 ICC World Cup.
Trent Boult, who has played 73 Test for New Zealand, said he expects a bit of banter between the rival players since they are all familiar with each other due to the Indian Premier League.
New Zealand's cricketers, including skipper Kane Williamson, who are quarantining in Maldives after the suspension of IPL 2021 last week might head to England this weekend for an upcoming two-Test series, head coach Gary Stead said.
Shakib Al Hassan became the second bowler to take 100 T20 wickets, after Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga, as Bangladesh defended 112-8 by bowling Australia out for 62 in 13.4 overs, the tourists lowest Twenty20 score.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes will miss the remainder of the ongoing-three Test series against Pakistan for family reasons, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Sunday.
The famous win in the opening Test against England in Southampton was West Indies' first in the opening Test of an away series in almost 13 years and only their second Test win in England in 20 years.
ECB England off-spinner Dom Bess described James Anderson as the greatest English player of all time after the 38-year-old moved within two wickets of becoming the first pace bowler to claim 600 Test victims.
A combination of robust vaccination programmes and strict physical distancing rules may be enough to prevent recurring peaks of COVID-19 without greatly restricting the mobility of people, according to a modelling study.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday night.
It was the biggest margin of victory by runs for India in a home match, eclipsing their 337-run win against South Africa in a Delhi Test in 2015.
The problem with non-selection of an Indian player in the XI is more to do with lack of matches rather than poor show since they have won both the series that they played in 2021.
India head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said the ICC World Test Championship final should be a best-of-three affair in the long run and not a one-off match like his side is set to play against New Zealand in the inaugural edition.
Factbox on the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup
Misbah also felt that the top order of both teams would play a decisive role in the series as bowling of both teams was top class.