Rediff Logo

Home  -  Cricket
Feedback


The final ranking

How the rankings work?

ICC Test rankings

Updates:
January 18
January 11
December 23
December 5
November 30

 Rediff Cricket Ratings Rediff Cricket Ratings
February 12, 2002

Pakistan looking good at the fourth position

M J Manohar Rao and Srinivas Bhogle

Many readers have advised us that the Rediff Test ratings must, in some way, reflect the magnitude of a Test or series victory. And seeing the way Pakistan blew West Indies away 2-0 at Sharjah, we think that such an exercise must probably start soon.

For the record, Pakistan (43.12) have modestly improved their grip on the fourth position (we are assuming that Sharjah is "home" for Pakistan). West Indies (35.36) continue their dismal run at the eighth position, with Zimbabwe (20.18) and India (39.26) on either side. They will probably stay there for a long time unless Lara recovers and again produces some extraordinary magic, or India obligingly loses some more matches.

We provide, below, the updated version of Table A as on February 11, 2002.
-- How the rankings work...

TABLE A: Test Score Card (as on February 11, 2002)
A W A Y
Aus Eng Ind NZ Pak RSA SL WI Zim
H

O

M

E		 Australia 4 / 5
3.5 / 5
 1 / 3
3 / 3
 3 / 3
1.5 / 3
 2 / 3
3 / 3
 2 / 3
3 / 3
 1 / 3
3 / 3		 2 / 4
5 / 5
 1 / 1
-
England 1.5 / 5
1 / 5
 1 / 3
2 / 3
 2.5 / 3
1.5 / 4
 2 / 3
1 / 2
 2 / 5
3 / 5
 2 / 3
0 / 1		 2 / 6
3.5 / 5
 1 / 2
1.5 / 2
India 0 / 3
2 / 3
 1 / 3
2 / 3		 1 / 3
2 / 3
 2 / 4
1 / 3
 0.5 / 2
0 / 2
 1 / 3
1.5 / 3
 2 / 5
1.5 / 3		 1 / 2
1.5 / 2
New Zealand 1.5 / 3
0 / 3
 2.5 / 4
0.5 / 3
 1 / 3
2 / 3
 1 / 2
1.5 / 3
 0.5 / 3
1 / 3
 1 / 3
2 / 2
 0.5 / 2
2 / 2
 2 / 2
0.5 / 1
Pakistan 0 / 3
1 / 3
 1 / 2
1 / 3
 2 / 3
2 / 4		 1.5 / 3
1 / 2
 1 / 2
1 / 3
 2.5 / 3
1 / 3
 1 / 3
2 / 2
 1.5 / 2
1 / 3
South Africa 0 / 3
1 / 3
 2 / 5
3 / 5
 2 / 2
1.5 / 2
 2 / 3
2.5 / 3
 2 / 3
1 / 2
 1.5 / 3
2.5 / 3
 3 / 5
5 / 5
 1 / 1
2 / 2
Sri Lanka 0 / 3
2 / 3
 1 / 1
1 / 3
 1.5 / 3
2 / 3
 0 / 2
2 / 3
 2 / 3
0.5 / 3
 0.5 / 3
1.5 / 3
 0.5 / 2
3 / 3		 2 / 3
3 / 3
West Indies 0 / 5
2 / 4
 1.5 / 5
4 / 6
 1.5 / 3
3 / 5
 0 / 2
1.5 / 2		 0 / 2
2 / 3
 0 / 5
2 / 5
 0 / 3
1.5 / 2
 1.5 / 2
2 / 2
Zimbabwe -
0 / 1
 0.5 / 2
1 / 2
 0.5 / 2
1 / 2
 0.5 / 1
0 / 2
 2 / 3
0.5 / 2
 0 / 2
0 / 1
 0 / 3
1 / 3
 0 / 2
0.5 / 2

The corresponding ranking table, Table F, appears below.

TABLE F: Final Rankings (as on February 11, 2002)
Country Performance index (RBI) Rank Difference
17.01.02 to 11.2.02
Australia 74.23 1 +0.10
South Africa 56.97 2 +0.06
England 47.39 3 +0.01
Pakistan 43.12 4 +0.25
New Zealand 42.55 5 +0.04
Sri Lanka 41.89 6 -0.04
India 39.26 7 -0.08
West Indies 35.36 8 +0.73
Zimbabwe 20.18 9 -0.24

Looking at Table F, we find that Pakistan have gained +0.25 points. This is, in large measure, because the West Indies "away" weight is extremely low. Only victories against West Indies in West Indies will produce a points bonanza. It must appear strange that West Indies have improved their rating in spite of the two defeats. This is because when West Indies last played Pakistan in Pakistan they lost 3-0, which is worse than 2-0. Remember also that the rating is marginally affected by the other recent results in Test cricket.

Finally, the forthcoming India-Zimbabwe series will have practically no impact on the RBI because Zimbabwe's away "weight" is negligibly low. Even a 3-0 win will increase India's RBI only by a modest +0.31. The forthcoming South Africa-Australia and England-New Zealand series, especially the latter, should be much more exciting.

Back to top

Design: Imran Shaikh
Home  -  Cricket Feedback