Recent test matches have brought success for three home sides: India against England, Australia against Sri Lanka, and South Africa against Pakistan. Collectively, the home teams are winning by the the score of 9-0, with one draw, confirming the general trend for Asian sides to be strong at home, and weak away. Interestingly, the effect this has had on my rating system for cricket sides has been to life New Zealand (narrowly) to fourth place; it's also notable that the gap between Pakistan and the West Indies looks smaller than it has done for quite a while. Meanwhile, India rank top, and with quite a good margin, while Australia have quickly bounced back from a brief, disastrous run of five consecutive defeats.
India 183
South Africa 129 +13
Australia 121 +14
New Zealand 41
Sri Lanka 30 -12
England 25
Pakistan 2 -11
West Indies -58
Bangladesh -148
Zimbabwe -325
The offical ratings, meanwhile, tell a similar (but not identical) story:
India 120
Australia 109 +4
South Africa 102
England 101
Pakistan 97 -5
New Zealand 96
Sri Lanka 96
West Indies 69
Bangladesh 65
Zimbabwe 5
The next test scheduled is the final game between South Africa and Sri Lanka, which starts next week.
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