Test opportunity for Windies in Zimbabwe

Return of Taylor, Jarvis to Zimbabwe side instils interest in series, chance for the likes of Brathwaite, Hope and Bishoo to move up the rankings

The Windies will be looking to make optimum use of the conditions during an upcoming two-Test series against Zimbabwe, knowing they will be visiting the country again in March for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.

Picking up that valuable experience in the two Tests in Bulawayo, as well as the chance for players to improve their individual rankings will be incentive enough for the Windies to do well, even though they may not have much to gain in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings.

The Windies, ranked eighth in Tests, missed out on direct qualification to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as they were ranked ninth in ODIs at the cut-off date of 30 September but they would be looking to build on the promise showed in the Test series in England which they lost 2-1.

As for the points at stake, the Windies can at best gain one point with a 2-0 win to go up to 76 points while a 1-0 series victory will see it remain at 75 points and eighth place. However, even a drawn series could see it slip behind Bangladesh on decimal points. On the other hand, Zimbabwe can move up to 21 points with a 2-0 series win.

Series scenarios:

Windies win 2-0: Windies 76 points, Zimbabwe 0 points
Windies win 1-0: Windies 75 points, Zimbabwe 2 points
Series drawn: Windies 72 points, Zimbabwe 9 points
Zimbabwe win 1-0: Windies 69 points, Zimbabwe 17 points
Zimbabwe win 2-0: Windies 67 points, Zimbabwe 21 points

As for the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, there will be a lot of interest regarding the return to international cricket by Zimbabwe players Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis.

Taylor, a 31-year-old former Zimbabwe captain who had announced his retirement during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in favour of playing County cricket in England, held a career-high 16th position among batsmen in October 2014. He was ranked 26th when he played his last Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong the following month. Pace bowler Jarvis held a career-high 40th rank and last played a Test in 2013 before turning his attention to County cricket.

The highest ranked batsmen for the home side is Craig Ervine, who has scored two centuries in his last four Tests for a career-best 43rd rank. Sikandar Raza too is at a career-best 50th place while their highest-ranked bowler is captain Graeme Cremer (57th position), who has taken 16 wickets in his last two Tests.

For the Windies, opener Kraigg Brathwaite is the leading batsman in 18th position while Shai Hope has risen to 30th place from 102nd, scoring 356 runs in the last two Tests of the series in England, which included a century in each innings at Headingley.

Pace bowlers Shannon Gabriel (21st) and Kemar Roach (26th) are their leading bowlers while leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo is ranked 28th.

For more information on player rankings, please click here.

Zimbabwe v West Indies Test series itinerary:

21-25 October: 1st Test, Bulawayo

29 October 刡 2 November, 2nd Test, Bulawayo

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 18 October 2017, before the two-Test series between Zimbabwe and the Windies)

Rank   Team              Points

  1        India                 125

  2        South Africa      111

  3        England             105

  4        New Zealand      97

  5        Australia             97

  6        Sri Lanka            94

  7        Pakistan            88

  8        West Indies       75

  9        Bangladesh       72

10         Zimbabwe         00

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 18 October, before the two-Test series between Zimbabwe and the Windies):

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank    Player               Team     Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

   1       Steve Smith      Aus      936      59.66   941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

   2       Joe Root          Eng      889      53.76   917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3       K. Williamson    NZ        880      51.16   893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4       C. Pujara           Ind        876      52.65   888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   5       David Warner    Aus      807      47.94   880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   6       Virat Kohli         Ind        806      49.55   895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

   7       Hashim Amla     SA        795      49.87   907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   8       Lokesh Rahul    Ind        761*!    46.27   761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

   9       Ajinkya Rahane Ind        760       47.61   825 v NZ at Indore 2016

  10       Azhar Ali           Pak      755       46.62   787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

Other selected rankings

Rank    Player              Team      Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

  18       K. Brathwaite     Win       669      36.59   701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

  31       Shai Hope         Win       610*!    31.12   610 v Eng at Lord's 2017

  37       Darren Bravo     Win       587      40.00   709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012

  41       Roston Chase   Win       553*     38.47   626 v Pak at Dominica 2017

  43=     Craig Ervine      Zim       536*!    37.95   536 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017

  50       Sikandar Raza   Zim       497*!    39.42   497 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank    Player               Team     Pts       Avge    Highest Rating

   1       J. Anderson      Eng      896!     27.39   896 v Win at Lord's 2017

   2       R.Jadeja           Ind        884       23.60   899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

   3       K. Rabada        SA        876!     22.71   876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

   4       R. Ashwin         Ind        852      25.26   904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

   5       R. Herath          SL        833      27.82   867 v Zim at Harare 2016

   6       J. Hazlewood    Aus      794      25.75   863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

   7       Nathan Lyon      Aus      752!     31.83   752 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

   8       Dale Steyn        SA        748       22.30   909 v Win at Centurion 2014

   9       Neil Wagner      NZ        745       28.90   767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

  10       Stuart Broad     Eng      737       28.81   880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 

Other selected rankings

Rank   Player              Team     Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

    21     S. Gabriel         Win       603*     33.97   636 v Eng at Headingley 2017

    26     Kemar Roach    Win       561      30.20   774 v SA at Centurion 2014

    28     D. Bishoo         Win       538*!    37.46   538 v Eng at Lord's 2017

    57     G. Cremer         Zim       311*!    47.80   311 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    Player              Team      Pts       Highest Rating

   1       S. Al Hasan       Ban      438      489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

   2       R. Jadeja          Ind        430      438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   3       R. Ashwin         Ind        422      493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

   4       Ben Stokes       Eng      396/*!   396 v Win at Lord's 2017

   5       Moeen Ali         Eng      378      409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

Image: ICC website