ICC rankings update sees South Africa slip to sixth in Test ratings

Australia moved to the top of the Test and T20I standings for men after the annual ICC Rankings update carried out on Friday.

World Champions England continue to lead the men’s ODI standings after the ICC rankings update, which eliminates results from 2016-17.

International cricket was brought to a halt by the ongoing global health crisis during March, and it is unclear when they will get back out on the park.

The update rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent.

South Africa slip

South Africa’s Proteas suffered the biggest rating fall of eight points, which sees them drop below Sri Lanka into sixth place. They had won three series in the period culled, while they have lost eight of their nine Tests since February 2019, playing against Sri Lanka, India and England.

Australia’s David Warner (L) speaks with Steve Smith after victory during the Twenty20 match between Australia and Sri Lankia at the Gabba in Brisbane on October 30, 2019. (Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP) /

Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place. India are now third with 114 points.

With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003. The closest for the top three teams was in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

India have yielded the top spot for the first time since October 2016. This is largely because India had won 12 Tests and lost just one Test in 2016-17, the records of which were removed in the latest update. They had won all five series during this period including against Australia and England. On the other hand, Australia had lost to South Africa as well as to India in the same period.

India still lead the ICC World Test Championship, a league comprising six series played by each of the top nine Test sides.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings, reigning World champions England (127) have increased their lead over India from six to eight points. New Zealand remains in third place, three points behind India. The top ten rankings remain unchanged.

Updated ICC Men’s T20I Rankings see plenty of changes

Australia (278) top the list for the first time since the T20I rankings were introduced in 2011. Pakistan, who had overtaken New Zealand to reach top position in January 2018 and then spent 27 months there, are now fourth with 260 points.

England have moved into second position with 268 points while India are up one place to third, just two points behind.

Afghanistan are down from seventh to 10th while Bulgaria are the biggest gainers, up 12 places to 51st in the 84-country list of teams that played the requisite six matches in the past three years.

When the global T20I rankings were launched 12 months ago, there were 80 ranked teams. Since then seven teams have joined the table (Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Turkey), while three countries (France, Isle of Man and Israel) have lost their rankings having played insufficient matches.

ICC ODI Team Rankings

Rank	Team	Points
1	England	127 (+3)
2	India	119 (+1)
3	New Zealand	116 (+1)
4	South Africa	108 (-6)
5	Australia	107 (-2)
6	Pakistan	102 (+4)
7	Bangladesh	88 (+1)
8	Sri Lanka	85 (+2)
9	West Indies	76 (-2)
10	Afghanistan	55 (-2)
11	Ireland	49 (-)
12	Netherlands	44 (+7)
13	Oman	40 (+6)
14	Zimbabwe	39 (-4)
15	Scotland	26 (-4)
16	Nepal	18 (-2)
17	UAE	17 (+3)
18	Namibia	17 (+1)
19	USA	13 (+1)
20	PNG	0 (-)

(Developed by David Kendix)

ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings

Rank	Team	Points
1	Australia	278 (+9)
2	England	268 (+1)
3	India	266 (+2)
4	Pakistan	260 (-10)
5	South Africa	258 (-1)
6	New Zealand	242 (-3)
7	Sri Lanka	230 (-2)
8	Bangladesh	229 (+2)
9	West Indies	229 (+3)
10	Afghanistan	228 (-5)
11	Zimbabwe	191 (-2)
12	Ireland	190 (+2)
13	UAE	186 (-)
14	Scotland	182 (-5)
15	Nepal	180 (-5)
16	PNG	179 (+3)
17	Netherlands	178 (-1)
18	Oman	176 (+2)
19	Namibia	157 (+4)
20	Singapore	142 (+5)
21	Canada	130 (+4)
22	Qatar	130 (+2)
23	Hong Kong	119 (-7)
24	Kenya	116 (+8)
25	Jersey	115 (+1)
26	Kuwait	110 (+1)
27	Italy	110 (-1)
28	Saudi Arabia	107 (-8)
29	Denmark	98 (-5)
30	Bermuda	92 (-)
31	Uganda	90 (+10)
32	Malyasia	88 (+2)
33	Germany	87 (+5)
34	USA	79 (-2)
35	Ghana	77 (-)
36	Botswana	72 (-7)
37	Guernsey	71 (+1)
38	Austria	69 (-1)
39	Nigeria	67 (+1)
40	Romania	67 (+5)
41	Norway	62 (-9)
42	Spain	59 (+1)
43	Sweden	56 (-2)
44	Tanzania	56 (-)
45	Cayman Islands	54 (-)
46	Argentina	51 (+6)
47	Phillipines	48 (-)
48	Bahrain	47 (-)
49	Vanuatu	47 (+4)
50	Belize	42 (-)
51	Bulgaria	41 (+12)
52	Hungary	41 (+11)
53	Malawi	40 (+5)
54	Czech Republic	36 (+8)
55	Fiji	35 (-)
56	Peru	33 (-2)
57	Panama	32 (-)
58	Luxembourg	32 (-7)
59=	Japan	32 (-)
59=	Costa Rica	32 (-)
61	Samoa	31 (-1)
62	Mexico	29 (-2)
63	Belgium	28 (-4)
64	Portugal	25 (+1)
65	Finland	23 (-)
66	Thailand	21 (-3)
67	South Korea	20 (-2)
68	Mozambique	14 (-5)
69	Brazil	14 (-3)
70	Bhutan	13 (-2)
71	Sierra Leone	12(-)
72	Maldives	10 (-1)
73	Chile	9 (-10)
74	St Helena	9 (-)
75	Indonesia	5 (+5)
76	Myanmar	4 (+1)
77=	Malta	0 (-8)
77=	Gibraltar	0 (-)
77=	Gambia	0 (-)
77=	China	0 (-)
77=	Turkey	0 (-)
77=	Eswatini	0 (-)
77=	Rwanda	0 (-)
77=	Lesotho	0 (-)

Cameroon, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Iran, Isle of Man, Israel, Russia and Serbia have also played some T20I matches but not enough to be on the rankings table