Cricket World Ratings 17th August 2020

 Rain is always a potential problem in any English summer; and it pretty much eliminated any possibility of a result in the 2nd test between England and Pakistan.  Which means that Pakistan can now not win, thought they still can draw, the series; in this year's compact schedule, the third test starts at the end of the week.  Meanwhile, there's a small adjustment to my world ratings. With England's higher rating coming into the series, and home advantage, a 1-0 lead at this stage actually represents a marginally worse performance for England than expected, and a marginally better one for Pakistan: the two sides are now adjacent in the pecking order, albeit with a large gap between them:

1. Australia     220    
2. India         212    
   
3. New Zealand   175  
4. England       172 -12
5. Pakistan       85 +12
6. Sri Lanka      84    
7. South Africa   59    
8. West Indies     9    
9. Bangladesh   -122    
10. Zimbabwe     -251    
11. Afghanistan  -303    
12. Ireland      -339

Cricket World Ratings 11th August 2020

The strange, compressed summer of test cricket in England continues, with Pakistan following the West Indies as the visiting side.  Pakistan had much the best of the first test, but England's lower middle order came through in a succesful run chase to secure a win for the home team.  My latest world ratings now look like this:

1. Australia     220    
2. India         212    
3. England       184 +11 
   
4. New Zealand   175    
5. Sri Lanka      84    
6. Pakistan       73 -10
   
7. South Africa   59    
8. West Indies     9    
9. Bangladesh   -122    
10. Zimbabwe     -251    
11. Afghanistan  -303    
12. Ireland      -339
    

Two more matches will follow in quick succession.