Cricket World Ratings 18th March 2018

There's a really interesting series going on at the moment between South Africa and Australia; the winner will have a good claim to contest with India, who lost in South Africa in a recent series, the title of the best team in the world (especially if that winner is Australia, the visiting team).  And Australia won the first test; but they've now lost the second. The effect on my rankings is to restore the two sides to near-equality.  There are two tests left to settle the issue; the first of these starts on Thursday.

India         174
Australia     137 -20
South Africa  133 +20
New Zealand    73 
Sri Lanka      29
England        24
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -135
Zimbabwe     -322

Cricket World Ratings 6th March 2018

This winter, Australia have seen off England; while South Africa (with home advantage) have beaten an Indian side that had accumulated a remarkable run of (mostly home) success. Now Australia are taaking their turn to visit South Africa; if they can do better than India did, they could challenge India for the position of top team in the world.  And they've made a good start, winning the first test.  They need to keep winning to take the number one spot; retaining the number two position is still more likely. The current ratings are below; the second test starts on Friday.

India         174
Australia     157 +16
South Africa  113 -16
New Zealand    73 
Sri Lanka      29
England        24
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -135
Zimbabwe     -322

Cricket World Ratings 11th February 2018

Bangladesh managed a draw in the first game of their two match series at home to Sri Lanka, although they got the poorer end of a high-scoring contest.  In their second, lower scoring match, the visitors asserted themselves and took the series 1-0.  This has had a small effect on my world ratings, in fact, almost exactly cancelling out the impact of the previous draw (in other words, the 1-0 result was almost exactly as predicted, based on the teams' prior rankings):

India         174
Australia     141
South Africa  129
New Zealand    73 
Sri Lanka      29 +9
England        24
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -135 -9
Zimbabwe     -322

The series has had a small net effect on the official rankings:

India        121
South Africa 115 
Australia    104
New Zealand  100    
England       99
Sri Lanka     95 +1
Pakistan      88  
West Indies   72   
Bangladesh    71 -1  
Zimbabwe       1  
 
Next up: in March, South Africa go to Australia.  If they can win there, having recently beaten India at home, they can surely make a credible case for being considered the world's best team; but Australia, following on from their 4-0 Ashes victor, will be confident at home. It should be a good series to watch.

Cricket World Ratings 4th February 2018

There have been some encouraging signs for Bangladeshi cricket over the past year-and-a -half: home wins against England and Australia, and an away win against Sri Lanka.  Now, playing the Sri Lankans at home in a two-test series, Bangladesh have started with a draw, albeit in a very high-scoring game that was many wickets short of a result.  Still, it's yet another reminder that the team are no pushovers any more, and much closer to the elite sides than they are to fellow minnows Zimbabwe. The second test starts on Thursday.

India         174
Australia     141
South Africa  129
New Zealand    73 
England        24
Sri Lanka      20 -9
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -126 +9
Zimbabwe     -322

Cricket World Ratings 30th January 2018

India have been formidable at home over the past year and a half, but a tour of South Africa was always going to be tough: the team duly lost their first two matches, before restoring some pride (though with the series already lost) in a match played on a terrible pitch.  Adding in the result of the last game, India recover some of their previous rating (which had peaked at 212 in the autumn, but had fallen to 157 after their two defeats here) while South Africa fail to sustain the position above Australia they briefly took after their two victories.

India         174 +17
Australia     141
South Africa  129 -17
New Zealand    73
Sri Lanka      29
England        24
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -135
Zimbabwe     -322

The offical ratings are much less favourable to Australia (for reasons I'm not clear about, and already had South Africa ahead even before this series; the update (for the series as a whole) merely reduces the gap between whay were already considered the two best teams:

India        121 -3
South Africa 115 +4
Australia    104
New Zealand  100    
England       99
Sri Lanka     94
Pakistan      88  
West Indies   72   
Bangladesh    72  
Zimbabwe       1   

Tomorrow, Bangladesh begin a two test series against Sri Lanka (and remember, they won when they played in Sri Lanka last year).

Cricket World Ratings 18th January 2018

Recently, India's world rating has soared to its all-time high, but exclusely on the back of a brilliant set of results at home.  That's not nothing, but given the increasing role that home advantage seems to play in test matches, for the current Indian side to truly be considered among the all-time great teams, it needs to add some away success.  And its current tour of South Africa has, perhaps, exposed its limitations - the first two matches of the series have both been reasonably close games, but they've also both been lost by the visting side.  India have one game remaining to save some pride, and if they avoid defeat, will remain top of the rankings for now. But the winners of the series later this winter between South Africa and Australia will surely have a legitmate claim to be the best team in the world.

So with that one match left, here's how the ratings currently stand:

India         157 -20
South Africa  146 +20
Australia     141
New Zealand    73
Sri Lanka      29
England        24
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -135
Zimbabwe     -322

Cricket World Ratings 8th January 2018

In late 2016, many teams were vying for the title of "best team in the world". Since then, India have been dominant, although mostly at home.  Now, they have begun a tough tour of South Africa, which will provide evidence of just how good they really are.  And their first match has been lost, to a team which was beaten on their tour of England this summer, to an English team that has just been well beaten by Australia for the fourth time in five matches.  What can we make of all this? Above all else, that it's harder than ever to win test matches away from home.  And whichever of the current strong teams next manages to beat a major opponent in an away series might have a credible claim to being the best in the world.  Neither my system of rating teams, nor the offical system, takes account of whether matches are played home or away - maybe they should.

So here's how my ratings currently stand:

India         177 -23
Australia     141 +12
South Africa  126 +23
New Zealand    73
Sri Lanka      29
England        24 -12
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -86
Bangladesh   -135
Zimbabwe     -322

And here are the offical ratings, now incorporating the Ashes matches, but which won't integrate the results from South Africa until that series is over:

India        124
South Africa 111  
Australia    104 +7
New Zealand  100    
England       99 -6
Sri Lanka     94
Pakistan      88  
West Indies   72   
Bangladesh    72  
Zimbabwe       1   

The next match between South Africa and India begins on Saturday.