Test Championship - New Format

[MrsTarrant]

Here we go! This looks much fairer.

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ICC relaunches Test Championship
Wisden CricInfo staff - 21 May 2003

The International Cricket Council has announced a relaunch of its Test Championship in the light of South Africa's elevation to top spot last year at a time Australia were universally regarded as the best side in the world.

Whereas the old calculations were based on simple series win/draw/loss points, the new Championship relies on a complex weighting system, and each Test will count rather than just the series result.

"The original ICC Test Championship was launched in May 2001 and we stated at the time that we would monitor its application," Malcolm Speed, president of the ICC told reporters at Lord's for the relaunch. "That process has now been completed and the revised points system provides a fair reflection of the achievements of all ten full members."

England's two-match npower series with Zimbabwe is the first to count towards the re-launched Championship. England need to win the series 2-0 to improve their rating, while a 1-0 win will keep them unchanged on 97 while a draw will cause them to fall to 95.

If England lose 2-0 they will narrowly hold on to fifth place in the table. That outcome would give Zimbabwe's rating a massive boost to 67, and even a drawn series would extend their lead over Bangladesh by four points.

The ICC Test Championship table, 21st May 2003

Position (prev pos in brackets) Team Rating

1 (1) Australia 129

2 (2) South Africa 115

3 (3) New Zealand 103

4 (4) Sri Lanka 101

5 (5) England 97

6 (6) India 91

7 ( Pakistan 91

8 (7) West Indies 79

9 (9) Zimbabwe 59

10 (10) Bangladesh 4

Explanation of the ICC Test Championship

The new ICC Test Championship takes into account the result of every individual Test Match with a bonus awarded for winning a series. It also recognises the strength of the opposition in calculating the points awarded.

The system means that there are no longer any `dead rubber' Test Matches and that in any series both teams have the opportunity to improve or worsen their rating.

The ICC Test Championship reflects performances in all Tests completed since a given date (currently 1st August 1999), in contrast to the previous system which included some series played in 1996/97 yet excluded some more recent series. More recent matches have a stronger weighting and the rankings are refreshed every August.

A rating of 100 reflects average performance, so a team winning and losing a similar number of matches and playing a broad mix of opponents will have a rating close to 100.

For the up-to-date ICC Test Championship table plus full scenarios for forthcoming series and details of the formula for calculating ratings visit the official ICC website www.icc.cricket.org.

[Donny]

I haven't studied the new system in full but after a quick look, it seems better than the old one. However, opinions will vary. The following critique from Andrew Miller is the first of many.
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Shows no working, gives no right of reply
Wisden Comment by Andrew Miller - 21 May 2003

Transparency, accountability, relevance. The International Cricket Council claimed to stand for all this and more when Malcolm Speed came aboard as their new chief executive in July 2001. But today, in a dozy corner of NW8, they turned Test cricket into more of a closed shop than ever before.

Cricket is a troubled sport, and the sooner its rulers realise this the better. Even the backwoodsmen in the English counties have accepted a need to broaden their appeal to the wider public, a miracle in itself. However, the one element of society that needed no introduction to the game was the anorak brigade - but now, in order to understand the ICC's new table, you have to become one yourself.

For all its flaws, the original ICC (formerly Wisden) World Championship was a well-meaning attempt to rationalise an increasingly chaotic tangle of fixtures. It was simple, which made it (in theory at least) a topic of discussion down the pub, and it was briefly controversial, when South Africa went top for three months from January. So far, so good. At least it got tongues wagging.

But controversy, of course, has no place in the ICC lexicon. And so, with a ruthlessness that has been palpably missing from every major ICC issue this winter - from Mugabe to chucking to sledging - the entire system has been scrapped. It is cricket's equivalent of going home to kick the dog after a terrible day at work.

Many moons ago, in the days when I could tell my Pythagoras from my elbow, I was forever being told to "show my working" in maths exams. Clearly, that lesson has not been heeded by David Kendix, the Lord's statistician who developed this bewildering system, and was also responsible for last year's one-day puzzlement.

By taking the sum total of all matches played since August 1999, multiplying by a factor of 40, adding 0.5 for each series won in that time and subtracting the number you first thought of, Australia have ended up with a rating of 129 something-or-others - Bangladesh, by contrast, remain laughable on 4. England will jump to 98 whojamaflips if they win their Zimbabwe series 2-0, but will remain on 95 thingummys if they manage just a 1-0 win, as they did in 2000. On the plus side, every Test now counts towards the ratings, but was it necessary to tear down the brickwork just to change the wallpaper?

The ICC believes it was, and have justified the new system by saying it is imperative that there is no ambiguity when deciding on a future World Champion. It seems they have learned something from the Zimbabwe affair after all - the best way to become a genuine ruling body is to obliterate the right to reply. But already, there is an anomaly in this all-conquering system. The only change is that a dishevelled Pakistan have overtaken a moderately resurgent West Indies in seventh place, but where once there were tables to argue the case, now it has to be accepted as fact.

Whatever happened to the glorious uncertainty of sport?

[Donny]

I brought this back to the top because of the current series between Sth. Africa and England.

[Donny]

South Africa's second spot secured
Wisden CricInfo staff - August 4, 2003

South Africa's victory in the second npower Test against England means they are guaranteed to hold on to second place in the ICC Test Championship when the ratings are updated at the end of the series.

If the series finishes at 1-0, South Africa's rating will remain on 119, but a 4-0 series victory will boost that rating to 123 - only six behind the leaders Australia.

England can no longer overhaul South Africa in the official table, and will need at least a tie to improve their rating. A 1-0 series defeat would leave England's rating on 101, but a 4-0 defeat will cause that rating to fall as low as 97, only three ahead of India in fifth position.

If England can turn the series around and emerge victorious – either 2-1 or 3-1 – that will be enough to leapfrog New Zealand in third place in the table.

[Donny]

England win sets up Test table challenges
Lynn McConnell - September 9, 2003

England's fighting comeback to tie their Test series with South Africa yesterday has added some spice to the southern hemisphere cricket season starting with the forthcoming New Zealand-India series starting next month. By winning the fifth Test, England moved to within two points of third-placed New Zealand on the ICC Test Championship rankings.

While New Zealand look to defend their position in India, England have a series with Bangladesh to contemplate. There's no points for guessing which side has the greater chance of picking up maximum points from those two series.

New Zealand face a formidable two Tests with India, especially in the absence of Shane Bond, and Chris Cairns. The last series. played between the two in India, saw India win one Test with two drawn. The immediate aim for New Zealand would have to be to at least win one of the two Tests to hold off the English challenge.

However, if unable to do that, all may not be lost. The home series against Pakistan and what is shaping as an outstanding series against South Africa offer New Zealand the chance to pick up some extra points to set up the perfect competition in England next summer.

England on the other hand, also play Sri Lanka, and then travel to the West Indies before returning home for their next season. India travel to Australia while the West Indies will travel to Zimbabwe, then South Africa over Christmas for what is shaping as an epic contest in the rebuilding of West Indian confidence and performance.

South Africa conceded some points and dropped further behind Australia at the head of the table as a result of their loss. They have to negotiate a series with Pakistan before returning home to await the West Indies' challenge. The points after today's result are:

Australia 1 129 points, South Africa 2 116, New Zealand 3 106, England 4 104, India 5 94, Pakistan 6, 92, Sri Lanka 7 91, West Indies 8 83, Zimbabwe 9 58, Bangladesh 10 0.

[Donny]

ICC Test Championship Table
[ as at 28th October 2003 ]

Team Rating

1 Australia 130
2 South Africa 111
3 New Zealand 104
4 England 104
5 Pakistan 98
6 India 95
7 Sri Lanka 91
8 West Indies 83
9 Zimbabwe 57
10 Bangladesh 0