England second to Australia on the world Test rankings
Lynn McConnell23-Jul-2003England second to Australia on the world Test rankings?That could be the prospect if they can crush South Africa in the npower Test series starting at Edgbaston tomorrow. With the annual update of the official International Cricket Council Test Championship having occurred yesterday, England could be in line for a substantial rise in the rankings.Even if they just take the five-Test series by one Test, they will supplant New Zealand in third place on the table, if only by the slenderest of margins. Both teams would have 106 rating points in this scenario, but under the new method of separating sides on level points, England edge out New Zealand when evaluating to three decimal places (106.368 to 105.550).This comes about because results from series played more than three years ago drop out of consideration when calculating the ratings. England’s rating is boosted by the removal of the 2-1 loss to New Zealand at home in 1999, and a 2-1 defeat in South Africa in 1999-00.To move to second, England needs to achieve at least a 4-0 series win. This is despite the fact that in the re-shaping of the Championship South Africa are the team to have benefited most. South Africa could consolidate its place on the table by winning the series. But even if it were to achieve an improbable whitewash of England it would not be sufficient to overhaul the rampant Australians in top position.The new order is:
New Old Rating RankRating Rating Change Change1 Australia 129* 129 0 -2 South Africa 119 115 +4 -3 New Zealand 106 103 +3 -4 England 101 98 +3 -5 India 94 91 +3 up 16 Sri Lanka 91 97 -6 down 17 Pakistan 90 91 -1 -8 West Indies 83 82 +1 -9 Zimbabwe 58 58 0 -10 Bangladesh 2* 4 -2 -
Unlike the more volatile ICC One-Day International Championship ratings refresh last week, there is little change in the overall rankings. India jumps above Sri Lanka into fifth place partly thanks to India’s heavy losses to Australia and South Africa in 1999-00 being dropped from calculations.Sri Lanka’s recent poor form plus the reduced weighting applied to their remarkable run of victories in the 12 months prior – 12 wins in 16 Tests, including 9 in a row – has seen them make the sharpest ratings drop.Test playing record in the new period of calculation (August 2000-July 2003):
-------- Matches -------- ----- Series ------P W L D % P W L DAustralia 35 26 6 3 78.6% 9 7 1 1South Africa 30 17 6 7 68.3% 12 9 2 1New Zealand 24 9 5 10 58.3% 11 4 2 5England 36 14 13 9 51.4% 11 5 3 3India 32 13 10 9 54.7% 12 6 4 2Sri Lanka 29 13 10 6 55.2% 13 6 5 2Pakistan 22 10 9 3 52.3% 11 5 4 2West Indies 38 8 21 9 32.9% 12 4 8 -Zimbabwe 24 4 15 5 27.1% 12 2 8 2Bangladesh 20 - 19 1 2.5% 11 - 11 -
These results can be broken down by each weighting period. Matches played in the most recent 24 months (Period Two) carry full weight. Matches played in the earliest 24 months (Period One) carry a weighting of one-half.Period Two results (August 2002-July 2003, 100% weighting):
-------- Matches -------- ----- Series ------P W L D % P W L DAustralia 13 11 2 - 84.6% 3 3 - -South Africa 8 8 - - 100.0% 4 4 - -New Zealand 4 2 - 2 75.0% 2 1 - 1England 10 3 5 2 40.0% 3 1 1 1India 8 3 2 3 56.3% 3 1 1 1Sri Lanka 6 - 3 3 25.0% 3 - 2 1Pakistan 7 2 5 - 28.6% 3 1 2 -West Indies 11 4 5 2 45.5% 4 2 2 -Zimbabwe 4 - 4 - 0.0% 2 - 2 -Bangladesh 7 - 7 - 0.0% 3 - 3 -
Period One results (August 2001-July 2002, was 100%, now 50% weighting):
-------- Matches -------- ----- Series ------P W L D % P W L DAustralia 12 7 2 3 70.8% 4 3 - 1South Africa 10 3 5 2 40.0% 4 2 2 -New Zealand 11 4 2 5 59.1% 5 2 1 2England 13 5 4 4 53.8% 4 1 2 1India 16 5 6 5 46.9% 5 2 3 -Sri Lanka 16 12 3 1 78.1% 7 6 1 -Pakistan 7 6 1 - 85.7% 5 4 1 -West Indies 12 2 7 3 29.2% 4 1 3 -Zimbabwe 9 1 6 2 22.2% 4 1 3 -Bangladesh 10 - 9 1 5.0% 6 - 6 -
Period One results (August 2000-July 2001, 50% weighting):
-------- Matches -------- ----- Series ------P W L D % P W L DAustralia 10 8 2 - 80.0% 2 1 1 -South Africa 12 6 1 5 70.8% 4 3 - 1New Zealand 9 3 3 3 50.0% 4 1 1 2England 13 6 4 3 57.7% 4 3 - 1India 8 5 2 1 68.8% 4 3 - 1Sri Lanka 7 1 4 2 28.6% 3 - 2 1Pakistan 8 2 3 3 43.8% 3 - 1 2West Indies 15 2 9 4 26.7% 4 1 3 -Zimbabwe 11 3 5 3 40.9% 6 1 3 2Bangladesh 3 - 3 - 0.0% 2 - 2 -
Results removed from calculations (August 1999-July 2000, was 50% weighting):
-------- Matches -------- ----- Series ------P W L D % P W L DAustralia 13 10 1 2 84.6% 5 4 1 -South Africa 11 7 2 2 72.7% 3 3 - -New Zealand 10 3 4 3 45.0% 4 2 2 -England 11 3 4 4 45.5% 3 1 2 -India 8 1 5 2 25.0% 3 1 2 -Sri Lanka 14 5 4 5 53.6% 4 3 1 -Pakistan 12 3 6 3 37.5% 4 1 3 -West Indies 9 4 3 2 55.6% 3 2 1 -Zimbabwe 10 - 7 3 15.0% 5 - 5 -Bangladesh 0 - - - - 0 - - -