ICC Test Rankings: England extend lead as top team
16 July, 2012
ISLAMABAD: England's position as the top team in the ICC Test Rankings was strengthened after the annual update took place on Sunday as they leapt to 122 ratings points but they can still be overhauled by South Africa in the forthcoming series that begins at The Oval on 19 July.
Although South Africa have fallen to third spot, behind Australia, Graeme Smith's team can leapfrog into top spot by simply winning the three match series against England. So for the second Northern Hemisphere summer in succession the ICC Rankings' number one Test position is up for grabs. If South Africa win the series 1-0 or 2-1 they will be level on ratings points with England but when the rankings are calculated to a fraction of a decimal point then Smith's team will have the edge. A drawn series or a 1-0 win will mean England retain the number one position and if Andrew Strauss's side were to win 2-0 or 3-0 then South Africa would tumble to fourth position. South Africa's fall to third in the update is because annually the oldest results are no longer counted – in this case from 2008-9 – and it was in that period that the Proteas won both in England and away in Australia. Those results no longer count while at the same time England's ranking has improved because that home defeat to South Africa and the away defeats in India and West Indies are no longer counted in the rankings calculations. Australia will take some encouragement – after the recent 4-0 One-day International series defeat in England – that their Test form has seen them rise back towards the summit they occupied for so long after falling to a low of fifth in 2009. India and Pakistan have changed places. Pakistan, despite a 1-0 defeat in the three-Test series which finished in Sri Lanka on Thursday, have moved up to fourth and MS Dhoni's side, number one this time last year, now down in fifth place. Lower down the table West Indies have fallen below New Zealand, who now go seventh. Zimbabwe still have not played sufficient Test matches to be ranked in the table having only played four in the ranking period. Table Rank .Team. Rating 1. England .122 2. Australia. 116 3. South Africa. 113 4 .Pakistan .109 5. India .104 6. Sri Lanka .98 7. New Zealand. 87 8. West Indies. 84 9. Bangladesh. 0 End. |
