December 12, 2024 18:37 (IST)
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West Indies, New Zealand to start season of Test cricket
Dubai, Jun 6 (IBNS): The West Indies and New Zealand will kick off a season of high-octane Test cricket when they go head-to-head in a three-Test series that starts in Kingston, Jamaica, on Sunday 8 June.
While the series in the Caribbean is underway, a two-Test series between England and Sri Lanka will be played at Lord’s (June 12-16) and Headingley (June 20-24).
These two series will not only serve as curtain-raisers to what is expected to be a season of mouth-watering Test cricket, it will also start the race to the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table.
The side that tops the table with the Apr 1, 2015 cutoff date will be presented with the prestigious Test mace as well as a cash award of USD 500,000.
Australia currently holds the mace and the number-one Test position with South Africa in second place, just a fraction of a point behind.
Then 14 ratings points separate third-ranked England from seventh-ranked Sri Lanka, with the West Indies, another 14 ratings points behind in eighth spot.
Apart from the two series in June, ten more series are scheduled to be played until the end of Jan 2015, after which the focus will shift to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which starts in Christchurch and Melbourne on Feb 14.
This means that well before the ICC Cricket World Cup starts in Australia and New Zealand, the teams’ positions on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings Table at the Apr 1, 2015 cut-off date will be finalised, as no Test cricket expected to be played after the ICC Cricket World Cup final on Mar 29.
As per the January 2012 ICC Board decision, a total of USD 1.34 million will be distributed amongst the top four Test sides in 2015, with the number-one ranked side receiving USD 500,000, followed by USD 390,000 for the second ranked side, USD 280,000 for the third ranked side and USD 170,000 for the side that finishes fourth.
Host West Indies will have an opportunity to swap places with New Zealand when their series starts on Jun 8 in Kingston, Jamaica.
West Indies is currently ranked eighth in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings with 76 ratings points, and trails sixth-placed New Zealand by 16 ratings points.
However, to achieve that swap, the West Indies will have to win all three Tests against New Zealand and rely on England to make it 2-0 against Sri Lanka.
The final positions for New Zealand will also be dependent on the outcome of the England-Sri Lanka series.
While a series win will mean Sri Lanka will move up a place to sixth, England can drop to as low as fifth if it loses both Tests against Angelo Mathews’ side.
A series win for England will have no effect on its ranking.
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please click here. The Test Ranking Table, unlike the ODI and T20I Rankings tables, are updated after every series.
Sangakkara, Chanderpaul lead the batting charge
Second-ranked Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul in third place will start off as the highest-ranked batsmen in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen in the two series.
Outside the top 10, the batsmen likely to feature in the two series are Brendon McCullum (13th), Angelo Mathews (14th), Mahela Jayawardena (15th), Ian Bell (17th) and Alastair Cook (18th).
Meanwhile, the New Zealand pace bowling pair of Trent Boult (seventh) and Tim Southee (eighth) will start off as the highest-ranked bowlers in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers in the series against West Indies.
The highest ranked bowler in the series in England would be England’s Stuart Broad, who is sitting in 11th position.
Broad's teammate James Anderson (14th) is the other bowler from either side to feature inside the top 20.
Forthcoming Test series:
West Indies v New Zealand
8-12 June: First Test, Jamaica
16-20 June: Second Test, Trinidad
26-30 June: Third Test, Barbados
England v Sri Lanka
12-16 June: First Test, Lord’s, London
20-24 June: Second Test, Headingley, Leeds
Apart from the two series, the following Test series are scheduled to be played in the lead up to the Apr 1, 2015 cut-off date:
Sri Lanka v South Africa
England v India
Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Zimbabwe v South Africa
West Indies v Bangladesh
Pakistan v Australia
Pakistan v New Zealand
Australia v India
South Africa v West Indies
New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table (as on Jun 6, before West Indies v New Zealand and England v Sri Lanka series)
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 123
2 South Africa 123
3 England 104
4 Pakistan 103
5 India 102
6 New Zealand 92
7 Sri Lanka 90
8 West Indies 76
9 Zimbabwe 40
10 Bangladesh 21
(Developed by David Kendix)
Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Tests (as on Jun 6, before West Indies v New Zealand and England v Sri Lanka series)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 AB de Villiers SA 922 51.94 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
2 K Sangakkara SL 879 58.07 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 S.Chanderpaul WI 876 51.93 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4 Hashim Amla SA 873 51.35 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5 David Warner Aus 871! 46.54 871 v SA at Cape Town 2014
6 Ross Taylor NZ 842 46.94 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
7 Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 824! 48.75 824 v SL at Sharjah 2014
8 C Pujara Ind 819* 58.92 851 v SA at Durban 2013
9 Michael Clarke Aus 818 51.50 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
10 Virat Kohli Ind 784! 46.51 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
Selected Rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
13 B McCullum NZ 724! 38.09 724 v Ind at Wellington 2014
14 Angelo Mathews SL 706 46.16 716 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
15 M Jayawardena SL 699 50.30 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
17 Ian Bell Eng 682 45.41 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
18 Alastair Cook Eng 677 46.51 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
22 Kane Williamson NZ 640 36.37 654 v Ind at Auckland 2014
23 Darren Bravo WI 636 44.68 709 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
29 Chris Gayle WI 601 42.01 755 v SL at Galle 2010
31 Marlon Samuels WI 590 35.51 672 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
38 Joe Root Eng 558* 36.73 606 v Aus at Adelaide 2013
39 D Chandimal SL 552* 51.47 571 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
44 BJ Watling NZ 515*! 35.22 515 v Ind at Wellington 2014
49 Denesh Ramdin WI 472! 27.25 472 v NZ at Hamilton 2013
50 P Jayawardena SL 466 31.22 510 v Eng at Galle 2012
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 Dale Steyn SA 898 23.01 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 Ryan Harris Aus 870! 22.56 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
3 Vernon Philander SA 865 20.11 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
4 Mitchell Johnson Aus 844! 27.42 844 v SA at Cape Town 2014
5 Saeed Ajmal Pak 787 27.46 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
6 Rangana Herath SL 774 30.02 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
7 Trent Boult NZ 767*! 26.59 767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
8 Tim Southee NZ 757! 30.69 757 v Ind at Wellington 2014
9 R Ashwin Ind 744 28.50 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
10 Peter Siddle Aus 733 29.37 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
11 Stuart Broad Eng 729 30.31 783 v WI at Lord's 2012
14 James Anderson Eng 683 30.67 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
17 S Shillingford WI 613* 32.32 652 v NZ at Dunedin 2013
21 Steven Finn Eng 552* 29.40 624 v NZ at Headingley 2013
26 Neil Wagner NZ 504* 35.00 505 v Ind at Auckland 2014
29 Shaminda Eranga SL 461* 31.57 466 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
47 Dilruwan Perera SL 288*! 36.27 288 v Ban at Chittagong 2014
50 Corey Anderson NZ 276* 30.54 377 v WI at Hamilton 2013
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 Vernon Philander SA 376*/! 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
2 R Ashwin Ind 373*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
3 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 364 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
4 Stuart Broad Eng 291 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
5 Mitchell Johnson Aus 280 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
* indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
! indicates career-highest rating
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