Cricket World Ratings 30th November 2017

Sri Lanka managed a draw in the first game of their series against India; it's been rare recently for a strong Indian side not to win at home. Match two saw a big Indian win, however; there's one more game to come between the two sides.  Then, India will tour South Africa, which should provide a real test of quite how good a team they actually are.

Meanwhile, after 3 competitive days, Australia asserted themselves to win the first match of the Ashes series.  England did not disgrace themselves; but ultimately, failed to suggest that the weaknesses they might have been expected to reveal down under will not ultimately prove fatal to their hopes.  Match 2, a day-nighter at Adelaide which stats later in the week, was always tipped as their best chance; if they lose it, the rest of the series could prove very tough.

Finally, West Indies are about the start a series against New Zealand; this is another series where a home win is likely, though by no means inevitable.

The current world ratings now look like this:


India         210  -2 
Australia     108 +15 
South Africa  102    
England        57 -15  
New Zealand    53    
Sri Lanka      19  +2 
Pakistan      -27    
West Indies   -67    
Bangladesh   -135    
Zimbabwe     -320

Cricket World Ratings 2nd November 2017

Zimbabwe were awarded test match status in the 1990s, but with a small cricketing community, and political and economic turmoil, they've consistently struggled against just about everyone, as well as having been banned for a substantial period.  Recently, their results (from the relatively few matches they have played) have been so bad that they've come within 1 point of setting the all-time lowest rating ever recorded on my rating system: Bangladesh were once rated 1 point worse, although they've since substantially improved.  In the ICC ratings, their score had fallen to zero, meaning they had lost every match in the period used to devise a rating.  Now, however, while still losing a series, they've managed to draw a match, against the West Indies: the first time they've played a game without losing since they beat Pakistan, in 2013.

India         212    
South Africa  102   
Australia      93    
England        72    
New Zealand    53    
Sri Lanka      17  
Pakistan      -27  
West Indies   -67  -13  
Bangladesh   -135    
Zimbabwe     -320  +13

And the official ratings are now like this:

India        125
South Africa 111
England      105 
New Zealand   97
Australia     97 
Sri Lanka     94
Pakistan      88  
West Indies   75  
Bangladesh    72   
Zimbabwe       2 +2

The next test match will see Sri Lanka play in India; England's series in Australia begins shortly afterwards.

Cricket World Ratings 25th October 2017

3 matches have been played since the last report.  Sri Lanka have completed a 2-0 series win over Pakistan; and South Africa have seen off Bangladesh by a similar score.  Meanwhile, West Indies have seen off Zimbabwe in the first of those two teams' two matches, although Zimbabwe made a credible effort to chase a big target.  These two sides have one game left to play; meanwhile, next month will see Sri Lanka visit India, while the Ashes series between Australia and England will also get underway.

So my world ratings currently look like this:

India         212    
South Africa  102   +6 
Australia      93    
England        72    
New Zealand    53    
Sri Lanka      17  +17
Pakistan      -27  -16
West Indies   -54   +4  
Bangladesh   -135   -6  
Zimbabwe     -333   -5

 Zimbabwe's rating is their worst ever, and only 1 better than the lowest ever recorded rating (which was achieved by Bangladesh in 2008).

And the official ratings are as follows:

India        125
South Africa 111 +1
England      105 
New Zealand   97
Australia     97 
Sri Lanka     94 +4
Pakistan      88 -5   
West Indies   75  
Bangladesh    72 -2  
Zimbabwe       0

Cricket World Ratings 2nd October 2017

Last autumn, Sri Lanka beat Australia, albeit with home advantage.  Since then, they've had a pretty poor run in test cricket.  But they've just recordred a notable win, beating Pakistan in Pakistan's current home of the Gulf.  Bangladesh have had a good year, on the other hand, defeating Sri Lanka and also both England and Australia.  But they've just received a beating in South Africa. A second match in both series begins on Friday.

Meanwhile, England, who will tour Australia in the winter, haven't played a test in the last few weeks, but they may have lost a star player, with Ben Stokes in trouble following a street brawl.  It will be a big loss if he's not available.

Anyway, here are the latest world ratings. Pakistan's continued downward slide is the most notable feature:

India         212    
South Africa   96   +7
Australia      93    
England        72    
New Zealand    53    
Sri Lanka       0  +18 
Pakistan      -11  -19 
West Indies   -58    
Bangladesh   -129   -7
Zimbabwe     -328

Cricket World Ratings 9th September 2017

Normality has been restored with the last two test matches to have been completed.  That is to say, England beat the West Indies (who had surprsingly come from behind to level the two teams's three match series); and Australia won their second game in Bangladesh, to draw that series having lost the first game.  Still, Banglasdesh's progress should be noted: they've now drawn series against both England and Australia within a year. My cricket ratings now look as follows:

India         212     (+102)
Australia      93  +7    (0)
South Africa   89      (+14)
England        72 +10  (-17)
New Zealand    53       (+3)
Pakistan        8      (-91)
Sri Lanka     -18      (-71)
West Indies   -58 -10   (+9)
Bangladesh   -122  -6  (+50)
Zimbabwe     -328       (-8)

The numbers in brackets, incidentally, are the changes over the course of the past year.  The story of the past year has been India's dominance (albeit mostly acheived at home); Bangladesh's aforementioned improvment, and the failure of Pakistan to capitalise on their draw in England last summer and of Sri Lanka on their home win over Australia at around the same time.  The really interesting test will be to see how India do when they next venture further afield.

The offical ICC rankings don't look so different:

India        125
South Africa 110
England      105 
New Zealand   97
Australia     97 -3
Pakistan      93  
Sri Lanka     90    
West Indies   75  
Bangladesh    74 +5  
Zimbabwe       0 

The immediate adjustments are different (i.e. Australia are up in my ratings but down in the official ones) because the ICC ratings are adjusted once per season, whereas my ratings are adjusted each game. The pecking order is also similar, except for the fact that the ICC ratings are harsher on Australia than mine.  As an Englishman, I'm hoping the ICC have it right ahead of this winter's Ashes series. Before that, test cricket resumes when Sri Lanka visit the U.A.E, (where Pakistan will host) early next month.

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

Cricket World Ratings 20th August 2017

The West Indies were, as recently as the 1990s, the best cricket team in the world; but for some years now, have been in a state of relative decline.  Moreover, too many players, even strong ones, come (from all over the world) to the swinging, seaming conditions of England and assume they can play test matches the same way they play the short form of the game elsewhere, in a relatively thoughtless manner. In their earlier series this summer against South Africa, England played 4 one-sided games; but they lost one (as well as winning three), and there were at least some close sessions in each of the games;the South Africans at least had the right approach.  But the first test of the England-West Indies series proved disappointing; not just because the margin was one-sided, but because the West Indians weren't even remotely competitive; or even resilient.  Alistair Cook very nearly outscored the entire West Indian total on his own, and he only had to bat once!

Still, at one level England won't mind; it's another win in the book, altough there is some concern about a divide opening up in test cricket, made worse by the especial strength of the strongest sides at home.

India         212    
Australia     115    
South Africa   89    
England        87 +9  
New Zealand    53    
Pakistan        8    
Sri Lanka     -18    
West Indies   -73 -9   
Bangladesh   -145    
Zimbabwe     -328