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Rediff Test rankings: Australia end on top

Last updated on: December 29, 2009 09:40 IST

Although India currently top the official Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has even received a mace for this achievement, Australia continue to stay on top of the Rediff Test Rankings.

There's a simple enough explanation for this: the ICC and Rediff Test rankings are calculated based on different formulae. ICC accords the highest weightage to recently won Test matches; the Rediff rankings consider a much wider window spanning the most recent home-away series between every pair of teams.

So while India's recent Ttest form is excellent, Australia has still done much more if we look at the Test results in the past few years.

The Rediff Test Rankings, as 2009 draws to a close, appear in Table A. Australia (77.49), India (62.83), South Africa (61.98) and England (49.00) occupy the top four places.

This update covers England's 2-1 Ashes win in England, Sri Lanka's 2-0 home win against New Zealand, India's 2-0 home win against Sri Lanka, Pakistan's 1-1 drawn series in New Zealand and Australia's 2-0 win at home against West Indies to retain the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy.

  • Check ICC Test rankings

  • TABLE A: Final Rankings (as on December 29, 2009)
    Country Performance index (RBI) Diff: 15.8.09 -> 29.12.09 Rank
    Australia 77.49 -0.42 1
    India 62.83 +0.16 2
    South Africa 61.98 -0.43 3
    England 49.00 -0.20 4
    Sri Lanka 48.13 +1.90 5
    Pakistan 36.82 -0.58 6
    New Zealand 31.82 -2.70 7
    West Indies 29.46 +1.83 8
    Zimbabwe 12.50 +0.14 9
    Bangladesh 8.57 -0.15 10

    The current Reliance Mobile ICC Test rankings (as on December 29, 2009) are: India (124), South Africa (122), Australia (116), Sri Lanka (115), England (105), Pakistan (83), New Zealand (81), West Indies (77), Bangladesh (13) and Zimbabwe (12?). It seems a little curious that Australia and Sri Lanka appear to be at par.

    The current home-away points tally of Test-playing teams is shown in Table B.
    --     How the rankings work...

    TABLE B: Test Score Card (as on December 29, 2009)
    A W A Y
    Aus Ban Eng Ind NZ Pak RSA SL WI Zim
    H

    O

    M

    E    		 Australia 2 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 2 / 5
    5 / 5
    		 1 / 4
    2.5 / 4
    		 2.5 / 3
    2 / 2
    		 3 / 3
    3 / 3
    		 2 / 3
    1 / 3
    		 3 / 3
    2 / 2    		 2.5/3
    2.5 / 3
    		 1 / 1
    2 / 2
    Bangladesh 0 / 2
    0 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    0 / 2
    		 -
    0.5 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    0.5 / 2
    		 0 / 3
    0 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    0 / 2
    		 0 / 3
    0 / 2
    		 2 / 2
    0 / 2
    		 0.5 / 2
    1.5 / 2
    England 0 / 5
    3 / 5
    		 2 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 0.5 / 2
    1 / 3
    		 2 / 3
    2.5/3
    		 0.5 / 3
    3.5 / 4
    		 3 / 5
    1.5 / 4
    		 1 / 3
    1.5 / 3    		 2 / 5
    2 / 2
    		 1 / 2
    2 / 2
    India 1.5 / 4
    3 / 4
    		 1.5 / 2
    -
    		2 / 3
    1.5 / 2    		 2 / 3
    1 / 2
    		 1 / 3
    2 / 3
    		 1 / 3
    1.5 / 3
    		 1 / 3
    2.5 / 3
    		 2.5 / 4
    2.5 / 3    		 2 / 2
    2 / 2
    New Zealand 0 / 2
    0.5 / 3
    		 1.5 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 0.5/3
    1 / 3
    		 1 / 2
    1 / 3
    		 0 / 1
    1.5 / 3
    		 0 / 2
    1.5 / 3
    		 0 / 2
    1 / 2
    		 1.5 / 2
    1 / 2
    		 2 / 2
    0.5 / 1
    Pakistan 0 / 3
    0 / 3
    		 2 / 2
    3 / 3
    		 0.5 / 4
    2.5 / 3
    		 1 / 3
    2 / 3    		 1.5 / 3
    1 / 1
    		 1 / 3
    0.5 / 2
    		 0.5 / 3
    1 / 2
    		 1 / 2
    2.5 / 3
    		 2 / 2
    1 / 3
    South Africa 2 / 3
    1 / 3
    		 2 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 2.5 / 4
    2 / 5
    		 1.5 / 3
    2 / 3
    		 1.5 / 3
    2 / 2
    		 1.5 / 2
    2 / 3
    		 0 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 3 / 4
    2 / 3
    		 1 / 1
    2 / 2
    Sri Lanka 0 / 2
    0 / 3
    		 2 / 2
    3 / 3
    		 1.5 / 3
    2 / 3
    		 0.5 / 3
    2 / 3
    		 1 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 1 / 2
    2.5 / 3
    		 0 / 2
    2 / 2
    		 1 / 2
    2 / 2    		 2 / 2
    3 / 3
    West Indies 0.5 / 3
    0.5/3
    		 2 / 2
    0 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    3 / 5
    		 0.5 / 3
    1.5 / 4
    		 1 / 2
    0.5 / 2    		 0 / 2
    1 / 2
    		 1 / 3
    1 / 4
    		 0 / 2
    1 / 2
    		 1.5 / 2
    2 / 2
    Zimbabwe 0 / 2
    0 / 1
    		 0.5 / 2
    1.5 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    1 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    0 / 2
    		 0.5 / 1
    0 / 2
    		 2 / 3
    0 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    0 / 1
    		 0 / 3
    0 / 2
    		 0 / 2
    0.5 / 2

    Table C summarizes the home-away series win record of all the nine Test playing countries and Zimbabwe. Note that this table lists statistics relating to Test series, not individual Test matches.

    TABLE C: Series 'win-draw-loss' record (with 'home'-'away' break-up)
    (as on December 29, 2009)     | *No India-Bangladesh series so far in India
    Country No of home wins No of away wins Total wins No of home draws No of away draws Total draws No of home losses No of away losses Total losses
    Australia 8 7 15 0 0 0 1 2 3
    Bangladesh 1 1 2 0 0 0 8 7* 15*
    England 6 3 9 1 1 2 2 5 7
    India 6* 5 11* 2 0 2 0 4 4
    New Zealand 1 2 3 5 1 6 4 5 9
    Pakistan 4 3 7 1 2 3 3 5 8
    South Africa 7 6 13 0 2 2 2 1 3
    Sri Lanka 8 2 10 0 4 4 1 3 4
    West Indies 2 2 4 2 1 3 5 6 11
    Zimbabwe 1 1 2 1 1 2 7 7 14

    Our next update will appear after the Australia-Pakistan series Down Under and South Africa's home series against England.

    • M J Manohar Rao, Srinivas Bhogle