Cricket World Ratings 11th September 2018

India have a fine cricket team at the moment: many great batsmen, led by the incomparable Virat Kohli, good spinners, and, alost uniquely in their history, a fine seam attack as well.  England have not had as good a time of it recently, with an absence of top quality spin (sadly, far from a unique occurance) and few batsmen consistently in the runs except for Cook and Root.  It therefore seems surprising that, even with a home advantage that discounts their disadvantage in spin bowling, England had wrapped up this five test series 3-1 with a game to spare, especially as Kohli has been magnificent and Cook and Root have contributed nothing: indeed, Cook has decided to retire on the back of his poor form. But the England lower order have saved the team; while aside from Kohli, the Indian batting from top to bottom has struggled in difficult conditions.  The final test promised to be an anticlimax, with the series decided; but instead it proved a sentimental classic.  Root returned to form, Cook top scored in the game and bowed out with a century in his final innings; a splendid Indian counter attack enlivened the last day, with a maiden century for Pant, a very bright talent; and Anderson wrapped things up with the last wicket to become the most profilic fast bowler in test match history.  The 4-1 scoreline does India little justice; we can note England won all five tosses. With Cook's departure England need, more than ever, to find some new top order talent.  Those four defeats, however, have hurt India in my world ratings, and knocked them off top spot: you might not want to bet against them reclaiming it at some point in future, especially once they return to home soil.
  
South Africa  179  
Australia     166
India         159 -19
England       152 +20
New Zealand   144
Sri Lanka     125 
Pakistan       40  
West Indies    15    
Bangladesh    -99 
Zimbabwe     -260
Ireland      -295
Afghanistan  -325

The official ratings are less drastically modified, with India retaining the top spot, although otherwise the order is the same:

India        115 -10
South Africa 106
Australia    106
England      105 +10 
New Zealand  102
Sri Lanka     97
Pakistan      88
West Indies   77 
Bangladesh    67 
Zimbabwe       2 

India are in action in the next test to be played as well; the West Indies will visit them in October.

Cricket World Ratings 3rd September 2018

England's series with India continues to be a tight, and mostly low-scoring, affair.  With home advantage, and four won tosses, England have now secured victory, with one match still to play: notably, the only game they lost, they chose contraversially to field first.  In recent seasons, England have really struggled with their top order, and in this series this has been true more than ever; but other than the great Virat Kohli, few in the Indian team have scored runs consistently either.  However, for Alastair Cook, a very lean year has led to his decision to retire from test cricket. It's another hole for England to fill, albeit that at the moment, Cook hasn't looked like contributing very much in any of his innings.


In victory, England have made much of the fact that they've beaten the best team in the world; but in my world ratings, which are less stable than the offical ones, they've already lost this honour, for the first time since August 2016, and South Africa, who were last top in November 2015, have replaced them. The standings are as follows:
 
South Africa  179
India         178 -22
Australia     166  
New Zealand   144
England       132 +22 
Sri Lanka     125  
Pakistan       40  
West Indies    15    
Bangladesh    -99 
Zimbabwe     -260
Ireland      -295