Cricket World Ratings 3rd September 2017

 Cricket, and sport in general, would be of no interest if the result was always predictable. And yet, sometimes predictability can be a self-fulfulling prophesy. Bangladesh are the youngest of the test-match playing nations; there is a large cricket-playing population there; but  because their side has not been very good, few have wanted to play them in test matches.  But without games, how can they get better?  Yet arguably, the team currently features the world's best all-rounder, and within the last year, they have improved on a record which had seen them only previously defeat Zimbabwe and the West Indies by beating England at home, Sril Lanka away and now, in the first game between the two sides for many years, Australia as well.  Their current rating of -116 is their best ever, and here's hoping that in future they get more regular chances to both demonstrate their talents, and improve them.

The fact that beating the West Indies had not been seen as much of an achievement is itself a sign of how far the West Indians, for long the world's best team, have fallen; and their abject loss to England in the first test of their current series was seen as a further sign of this.  But in another unexpected result, the team have squared the series in the second match, and moreover, have done so by playing with unexpected resolve.  The previously underperforming Shai Hope became the first batsmen ever to score two centuries in a first class match at Headingly, as the vistors sucessfully chased a total of over 300 to win the game.  England are still favourites for the series, but in Leeds, they were unambiguously outplayed.

One thing this does do is widen India's enormous lead at the top of the current rankings, but it's good to see signs of competitiveness below:

India         212    
South Africa   89    
Australia      86 -29  
England        62 -25  
New Zealand    53    
Pakistan        8    
Sri Lanka     -18    
West Indies   -48 +25 
Bangladesh   -116 +29  
Zimbabwe     -328