Cricket World Ratings 16th September 2019

A long English summer of international cricket is now over.  The Ashes have been retained by Australia, but the series was drawn 2-2.  The result seems fair: England won one match by the faintest of margins, but had the advantage in a rain-affected draw.  With the awesome Steve Smith, Australia generally looked the team most likely to, but their highest opening stand in 10 attempts was a pathetic 18.  Overall, it was an enjoyable encounter, but both sides still have selection problems going forward.  At the end of it, my world ratings look like this:

India         227
New Zealand   160 
Australia     159 -19
England       151 +20
South Africa  140
Sri Lanka     113 
Pakistan       80  
West Indies   -22     
Bangladesh   -122    
Zimbabwe     -252                 
Afghanistan  -295
Ireland      -339

There' s little to choose between England and Australia, and that looks about right to me.  The official ratings tell a similar, but slightly different story:

India         115
New Zealand   109
South Africa  108
England       104 -1
Australia      99 +1
Sri Lanka      95
Pakistan       84
West Indies    80
Bangladesh     61
Afghanistan    55
Zimbabwe       16
Ireland         0 

South Africa tour India next month.  It's always hard for teams to win in India, and they won't start as favourites, but it should be a good contest.