Australia, England and India have all improved their ratings in the LG ICC Test Championship as a result of the annual update that took place today.
Australia now has the highest Test rating since a new system of calculation was introduced in June 2003. Its rating of 133 is one higher that it was before the update and it can improve up to 138 if it beats England 5-0.
Series played before 1 August 2002 no longer count towards the Test rankings. England lost to Australia and India and drew with New Zealand during this period so the loss of these series from the calculation has helped England improve its rating by three points to 114. If it were to lose to Australia by the same 4-1 margin as in 2001 in the current series its rating would fall back to 111.
India lost three away series - to Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies - between 1 August 2001 and 31 July 2002. It therefore benefits by four points as a result of the update and its rating of 111 is the highest it has been since the new system came into force.
The ratings of the sides ranked fourth to seventh remain very tightly grouped. New Zealand is the main beneficiary from the update, climbing from seventh to fifth, while South Africa moves up from sixth to fourth despite its rating remaining unchanged on 100 points.
South Africa’s ascent is due to the falling ratings of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who have lost four and five points respectively.
At the bottom of the table the gap between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh is down to 24 points with Zimbabwe’s rating falling by 11 points and Bangladesh picking up a point.
LG ICC Test Championship table correct on 1 August 2005:
Current Ranking (Previous Ranking)
1 Australia (1)
2 England (2)
3 India (3)
4 S.Africa (6)
5 Newzealand (7)
6 Srilanka (4)
7 Pakistan (5)
8 Westindies (8)
9 Zimbabwe (9)
10 Bangladesh (10)
There is not a big points' gap. 5 points separate 4 teams. Pakistan can still easily regain their position at 4th or 5th if they can only gain some points against England. With central contracts for players already announced , PCB will definitely launch their best players against England. Good luck to Pak.
-Captian1- not a bougus...
it is quite goood
england and india both r performing well and have not
lost any series.. thats y they are 2nd & 3rd
i don't remember when pakistan won the test series...
December 2003 when Pakistan beat NZ in a 2 test series. Aftar that we have lost to india at home, manage to draw a home series agianst Srilanka, thrashed by australia, again manage to draw a test series in india after a tremendous fight back and then again drawn another series against WI. So yes we are not performing that well in test, and can do much better.
^^ Supporters of Woolmer and haters of Miandad ought to take notice of the above state facts.....Bobbie has failed to win a single series, even against two rather crappy sides....Windies and Lankans....
Miandad is certainly Pakistan's greatest cricketer and was a good coach too, the only problem he had faced, was his disputes with most of the players in the team. If he has ever managed to control his statements then he was the best option for coaching Pakistan.
Woomer on the other had is a person who has proved him as coach in many circumstances. South Africa's best team was coached by Woolmer. I am not a supporter of him, but under his coaching players have shown steady improvements. In ODIs Pakistan has improved a lot and proved them as a unit. Who could have ever imagined Shoaib Malik batting as one down and showing consistent performance? Razzaq and Afridi are the biggest threats for any team any where. Rana is comparable to any other fats bowler. Even Arshad Khan made a good comeback………
As for the Tests, Miandad had plenty of experienced players available at his disposal. Woolmer had just Inzimam, Youhana and Akhter (disputed). But both Woolmer and Pakistani team is heading towards glory. Younis Khan has proven to be a more consistent player under Woolmer's control. Asim Kamal is used in an effective way, and at least I see him as our major batting pillar in near future. Danish Kaneria has improved much to be as effective as any spinner can be. Inzimam and Youhana are already there to put their parts. Provided that all these players and the rest can deliver as they have delivered in the past series, with optimistic inclusion of Shoaib, Pakistan will compete England in every respect.
shh, you paki *******. Miandad is the greatest coach in not just the world, but the universe. Anyone who begs to differ is a idiot. Now get down on your knee and start fondling the great miandad’s balls like the rest of us.
