India’s lead over New Zealand in the ICC Test rankings has narrowed to just two points after the annual update today. In the ODI rankings, England have held on to their top position.
Following the update, series from 2015-16 were removed from the calculations and results from 2016-17 and 2017-18 were weighted at 50%, with series after that weighted at 100%.
Success against Ireland and Pakistan will mean England host the upcoming World Cup ranked No. 1 in the format.
India, who have held the top spot in Tests since October 2016, were on 116 points before the update but their 3-0 win over South Africa and 2-1 win in Sri Lanka during the 2015-16 season have dropped out of the ranking period, meaning they lost three points. New Zealand, meanwhile, were on 108 but have had their two 2-0 defeat to Australia expunged from their record, gaining three points to move to 111.
In the only change of positions on the Test table, England have overtaken Australia to fourth position and are on 105 points. Australia are on 98 points after dropping six points they had held from winning four of their five series in 2015-16. Further down the table, the gap between seventh-placed Pakistan and eighth-placed West Indies has been trimmed from 11 to two points.
In order to go into the World Cup as the top ranked ODI side, England will need to beat Ireland in Friday’s one-off ODI and then beat Pakistan 3-2 or better at home later this month. If they lose to Ireland, then beat Pakistan 4-1 or better, they will still hold on to their position.
South Africa have overtaken New Zealand in ODIs, moving into third position, while another change in positions sees West Indies moving ahead of Sri Lanka to seventh place. No team has dropped out of the top 10, and the 10 top-ranked sides are all taking part in the World Cup.
Namibia, Oman and USA were all awarded ODI status at the end of the World Cricket League Division 2 competition and will join the rankings once they have played the requisite eight qualifying matches. Papua New Guinea join the rankings immediately having played several ODIs prior to April 2018, and Netherlands, who already had ODI status, will need to play two more ODIs to achieve a ranking.
The annual update to the T20I team rankings will be made on May 3.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo