If you are interested in knowing the rankings of a particular national team or who the top twenty batsman or bowlers are in each of the three formats, then this is definitely the place to be. Below we will explain how the ICC rankings for test, ODI, and T20 cricket are calculated as well as provide the latest tables for all three formats. Knowing this information can help you when it comes to online cricket betting.
ICC Test Rankings Explained
The ICC Test Championship is an ICC competition for the twelve test-playing nations. In reality, it is not exactly a competition as it is simply a ranking system that is used alongside all international test matches to give some indication as to which team is the best in the world at test cricket.
However, having said that, the team that sits at the top of the ranking are given the ICC Test Championship mace and get to hold onto it until they are displaced by another team. Furthermore, the team that is first on the 1st April each year is awarded $1 million.
How Are the Points Calculated?
When two teams compete in a series, the table is updated as pointed out below.
-
- 1 point to the team that wins the match.
- 0.5 points to each team if the match is drawn.
- 1 extra point to the winner of the series.
- 0.5 extra points to both teams if it is a drawn series.
The points gained then need to be converted into rating points.
If the gap between the two teams in the rankings table is fewer than 40 points, the rating points are calculated as follows:
- (Team’s accumulated series points) x (opponent’s rating + 50) + (opponent’s series points) x (opponent’s rating – 50)
Since this formula is only used when there is a gap of fewer than 40 points between the two teams, the series winner will always receive more rating points than they originally had, while the losing team will always receive fewer points than they had.
When it comes to draws, the team lower in the rankings will receive more rating points than they already had, while the team that was deemed stronger will receive fewer.
If the gap between the two teams is 40 or more, the rating points are calculated as shown below:
For the team deemed to be stronger
- (Own series points) x (own rating + 10) + (opponent’s series points) x (own rating -90)
For the team that is deemed to be weaker
- (Own series points) x (own rating + 90) + (opponent’s series points) x (own rating -10)
So, once again, the match’s winner will always receive more points than they had, while the team that loses will always receive fewer points than they had. The weaker team will be better off in the case of a draw.
How the Table is Then Updated
- The rating points earned are added to the rating points they received from previous matches.
- The number of matches played is updated by adding the series points that were available. This will always be one more than the number of games that were played in the series because an extra point is rewarded to the winner of the series. For example, a three-match test series will see the match count increase by four.
- To get the new ratings, the new rating points are divided by a new number of matches.
Every May, the points that were received 3-4 years are taken away and those points earned 1-2 years ago only have a 50% weighting instead of 100%. For example, in May 2019, the matches that occurred between May 2015 and 2016 were taken away, and those matches played from May 2017 to May 2018 changed to 50% weighting.
Current Test Rankings
Ranking |
Team | Matches | Points |
Rating |
1 | India | 35 | 4,027 |
115 |
2 |
New Zealand | 26 | 2,829 |
109 |
3 |
South Africa | 27 | 2,917 |
108 |
4 | England | 42 | 4,366 |
104 |
5 |
Australia | 33 | 3,270 |
99 |
6 |
Sri Lanka | 40 | 3,795 |
95 |
7 |
Pakistan | 27 | 2,263 |
84 |
8 |
West Indies | 32 | 2,570 |
80 |
9 |
Bangladesh | 23 | 1,413 |
61 |
10 |
Afghanistan | 3 | 165 | 55 |
11 |
Zimbabwe | 9 | 140 |
16 |
12 |
Ireland | 3 | 0 |
0 |
Historical Rankings
The table below reveals how long each team has held the number one spot for.
Team |
Total Number of Months |
Highest Rating |
Australia |
326 |
143 |
West Indies |
235 |
135 |
England |
106 |
125 |
India |
81 |
130 |
South Africa |
61 |
135 |
Pakistan |
4 |
111 |
ICC ODI Team Rankings Explained
The ICC ODI Championship is a competition for the twenty ODI-playing nations. However, just like the ICC Test Championship, it is not really a competition as it is a ranking system that is used alongside all international ODI matches to give show which team is the best in the world when it comes to ODI cricket.
However, the team that sits at the top of the table is presented with the ICC ODI Championship shield. This tradition started back in 2002 when Ricky Ponting received it.
How the ODI Rankings Are Calculated
Teams receive points based on their match results from the last 3-4 years. Every May, the points earned 3-4 years ago are deleted and the ranking points earned 1-2 years ago have just a 50% weighting instead of 100%. Therefore, in May 2019, the matches that were played from May 2015 and 2016 were deleted, and those played from May 2017 and 2018 lost 50% of their weighting.
If the gap between the two teams that played is fewer than 40, then the points earned are calculated as follows:
Win = Opponent’s rating + 50
Draw = Opponent’s rating
Loss = Opponent’s rating – 50
If the gap is 40 points or more, then the points earned are calculated as follows:
Stronger team wins = Own rating + 10
Weaker team loses = Own rating – 10
Stronger team draws = Own rating – 40
Weaker team draws = Own rating + 40
Stronger team loses = Own rating – 90
Weaker team wins = Own rating + 90
Current ODI Rankings
Ranking |
Team | Matches | Points |
Rating |
1 |
England | 54 | 6,745 |
125 |
2 |
India | 58 | 7,071 |
122 |
3 |
New Zealand | 43 | 4,837 |
112 |
4 |
Australia | 50 | 5,543 |
111 |
5 |
South Africa | 47 | 5,193 |
110 |
6 |
Pakistan | 49 | 4,756 |
110 |
7 |
Bangladesh | 46 | 3,963 |
97 |
8 |
Sri Lanka | 54 | 4,425 |
86 |
9 |
West Indies | 48 | 3,675 |
82 |
10 |
Afghanistan | 40 | 2,359 |
77 |
11 |
Ireland | 29 | 1,466 |
59 |
12 |
Zimbabwe | 35 | 1,538 |
51 |
13 |
Netherlands | 6 | 222 |
44 |
14 |
Scotland | 15 | 534 |
36 |
15 |
Namibia | 8 | 183 |
23 |
16 |
Oman | 8 | 174 |
22 |
17 |
Nepal | 8 | 152 |
19 |
18 |
United States | 8 | 115 |
14 |
19 |
United Arab Emirates | 15 | 144 |
10 |
20 |
Papua New Guinea | 17 | 0 |
0 |
Historical Rankings
In the table below you will be able to see how long each team has held the number one spot for in ODI cricket. This dates from 1981 to the present.
Team |
Total Number of Months |
Highest Rating |
Australia |
198 |
140 |
West Indies |
99 |
141` |
South Africa |
71 |
134 |
England |
52 |
135 |
India |
25 |
127 |
Pakistan |
3 | 131 |
ICC World T20 Rankings Explained
The ICC T20 Championship is a competition organised by the ICC. However, just like we mentioned for the Test and ODI rankings above, it is not exactly a real competition as it is simply a ranking system used alongside T20 matches to determine the best T20 international side in the world.
How the T20 Rankings Are Calculated
Every May, the points that were earned from matches 3-4 years ago are deleted, and those that were earned between 1-2 years ago drop from 100% weighting to a 50% weighting. For example, in May 2019, the matches that were played from May 2015-2016 were taken away, and those played between May 2017 and 2018 decreased to a 50% weighting.
If the gap between the two teams that played is fewer than 40, then the points earned are calculated as follows:
Win = Opponent’s rating + 50
Draw = Opponent’s rating
Loss = Opponent’s rating – 50
If the gap is 40 points or more, then the points earned are calculated as follows
Stronger team wins = Own rating + 10
Weaker team loses = Own rating – 10
Stronger team draws = Own rating – 40
Weaker team draws = Own rating + 40
Stronger team loses = Own rating – 90
Weaker team wins = Own rating + 90
Current T20 Rankings
Rank |
Team | Matches | Points |
Ratings |
1 |
Pakistan | 26 | 7,365 |
283 |
2 |
England | 16 | 4,253 |
266 |
3 |
South Africa | 16 | 4,196 |
262 |
4 |
India | 31 | 8,099 |
261 |
5 |
Australia | 21 | 5,471 |
261 |
6 |
New Zealand | 17 | 4,333 |
255 |
7 |
Afghanistan | 16 | 3,849 |
241 |
8 |
Sri Lanka | 19 | 4,297 | 226 |
9 |
West Indies | 24 | 5,378 |
224 |
10 |
Bangladesh | 16 | 3,525 |
220 |
11 |
Nepal | 14 | 2,818 |
201 |
12 |
Scotland | 11 | 2,185 |
199 |
13 |
United Arab Emirates | 18 | 3,453 |
192 |
14 |
Zimbabwe | 13 | 2,477 |
191 |
15 |
Ireland | 21 | 3,834 |
183 |
16 |
Papua New Guinea | 22 | 3,834 |
174 |
17 |
Netherlands | 15 | 2,607 |
174 |
18 |
Oman | 5 | 774 |
155 |
19 |
Hong Kong | 8 | 1,213 |
152 |
20 |
Namibia | 14 | 2038 |
146 |
* There are another 64 teams in the rankings table, but we didn’t think there was any need to add every single one.
ICC Player Rankings Explained
When it comes to player rankings, players are evaluated from 0 to 1,000 points. How many points a player gets for his performance in a particular match is determined by a number of circumstances. All is revealed in detail below.
Test Match Cricket
Batsmen are evaluated based on:
- How many runs they scored.
- The player ratings of the bowlers that he faced. If the bowlers are high up the rankings, the batsman will be awarded more points.
- The team’s total. For example, scoring a century in a match where the whole team scored over 600 runs is not worth as many points as a century in a match where the team was bowled out for just 250 runs.
- Whether they got out or not. If a batsman is not out, he will receive more points.
- The result. If a batman scores a lot of runs in a winning cause, they will be rewarded more ranking points. Also, if the opponents were highly rated, a batsman will pick up a nice number of points if he scores a lot of runs against them.
Bowlers are evaluated based on:
- How many wickets they take and how many runs they concede.
- The batting rankings of the batsmen that they dismiss. For example, getting Steve Smith out will be worth more points than bowling Jimmy Anderson through the gate.
- The amount of runs that were scored in the game. For example, 3 wickets for 50 runs in a high-scoring game will reward more points than similar figures in a low-scoring game.
- The workload that they do. Bowlers who bowl many overs get given some leeway, even if they pick up no wickets.
- The result of the match. Those bowlers that pick up many wickets to help their team win will receive bonus points. If the team they beat is rated high, they will receive more bonus points.
To get a player’s ratings, the performance they put in during their latest match is added to their previous ratings and then changed into points. More recent performances obviously have a greater impact on the ratings, but all performances from the start of his career are still taken into consideration. This means that a fantastic player who has been off form for a while will still have a decent rating.
Every new player begins with 0 points and can only receive full ratings when they have managed to establish themselves. For instance, a batsman who has played just ten test innings will only get 70% of his rating. In other words, it will be between 0 and 700. He cannot get 100% until he has play in 40 innings. If a bowler has taken 30 wickets, he will also only get 70% of his rating. He cannot get 100% until he has picked up at least 100 wickets. Therefore, new players can find themselves in the top 30 pretty quickly, but in order to get into the top ten, they will have to notch up many test matches.
If a player misses a test match, no matter the reason, they will lose 1% of their points.
Current Top Twenty Test Batsmen
Position |
Player | Country |
Rating |
1 |
Steve Smith | Australia |
937 |
2 |
Virat Kholi | India |
903 |
3 |
Kane Williamson | New Zealand |
878 |
4 |
Cheteshwar Pujara | India |
825 |
5 |
Henry Nicholls | New Zealand |
749 |
6 | Joe Root | England |
731 |
7 |
Ajinkya Rahane | India |
725 |
8 |
Tom Latham | New Zealand |
724 |
9 |
Dimuth Karunaratne | Sri Lanka |
723 |
10 |
Aiden Markam | South Africa |
719 |
11 |
Quinton de Kock | South Africa |
718 |
12 |
Faf du Plessis | South Africa |
702 |
13 |
Ben Stokes | England |
685 |
14 |
Ross Taylor | New Zealand |
669 |
15 |
Hashim Amla | South Africa |
664 |
16 |
Babar Azam | Pakistan |
658 |
17 |
Kusal Mendis | Sri Lanka |
645 |
18 |
Asad Shafiq | Pakistan |
643 |
18 |
Angelo Matthews | Sri Lanka |
643 |
20 |
Dean Elgar | South Africa |
639 |
Current Top Twenty Test Bowlers
Position |
Player | Country |
Rating |
1 |
Pat Cummins | Australia |
908 |
2 |
Kagiso Rabada | South Africa |
851 |
3 |
Jasprit Bumrah | India |
835 |
4 |
Jason Holder | West Indies |
814 |
5 |
Vernon Philander | South Africa |
813 |
6 |
James Anderson | England |
798 |
7 |
Trent Boult | New Zealand |
795 |
8 |
Neil Wagner | New Zealand |
785 |
9 |
Kemar Roach | West Indies |
780 |
10 |
Mohammad Abbas | Pakistan | 770 |
11 |
Ravindra Jadeja | India |
764 |
12 |
Josh Hazlewood | Australia |
754 |
12 |
Tim Southee | New Zealand |
754 |
14 |
Ravichandran Ashwin | India |
747 |
15 |
Stuart Broad | England |
740 |
16 |
Yasir Shah | Pakistan |
710 |
17 |
Mitchell Starc | Australia |
689 |
18 |
Mohammad Shami | Pakistan |
680 |
18 |
Shannon Gabriel | West Indies |
680 |
20 |
Ishant Sharma | India |
677 |
ODI and T20 Cricket
The criteria for ODI and T20 player ratings are quite similar to those used for test cricket. However, there are some important differences, which can be seen below.
- Batsmen gain a lot of credit for scoring rapidly.
- Bowlers gain a lot of credit for bowling economically.
- If a player misses a match for their country, they will lose only 0.5% of their points.
Current Top Twenty ODI Batsmen
Position | Player | Country | Rating |
1 |
Virat Kholi | India |
895 |
2 |
Rohit Sharma | India |
863 |
3 |
Babar Azam | Pakistan |
827 |
4 |
Faf du Plessis | South Africa |
820 |
5 |
Ross Taylor | New Zealand |
817 |
6 |
Kane Williamson | New Zealand |
796 |
7 |
David Warner | Australia |
794 |
8 |
Joe Root | England |
787 |
9 |
Quinton de Kock | South Africa |
781 |
10 |
Jason Roy | England |
774 |
11 |
Imam-ul-Haq | Pakistan | 764 |
11 |
Aaron Finch | Australia |
764 |
13 |
Jonny Bairstow | England |
758 |
14 |
Shai Hope | West Indies |
729 |
15 |
Usman Khawaja | Australia |
727 |
16 |
Jos Buttler | England |
717 |
17 |
Mushfiqur Rahim | Bangladesh |
713 |
18 |
Fakhar Zaman | Pakistan |
711 |
19 |
Shikhar Dhawan | India |
702 |
20 |
Ben Stokes | England |
694 |
Current Top Twenty ODI Bowlers
Position |
Player | Country |
Rating |
1 |
Jasprit Bumrah | India |
797 |
2 |
Trent Boult | New Zealand |
740 |
3 |
Kagiso Rabada | South Africa |
694 |
4 |
Pat Cummins | Australia |
693 |
5 |
Imran Tahir | South Africa |
683 |
6 |
Mujeez Zadran | Afghanistan |
681 |
7 |
Chris Woakes | England |
676 |
8 |
Mitchell Starc | Australia |
663 |
9 |
Rashid Khan | Afghanistan |
658 |
10 |
Matt Henry | New Zealand |
656 |
11 |
Lachlan Ferguson | New Zealand |
649 |
12 |
Kuldeep Yadav | India |
642 |
13 |
Mohammad Amir | Pakistan |
636 |
14 |
Tim Murtagh | Ireland |
635 |
15 |
Akila Dananjaya | Sri Lanka |
631 |
16 |
Yuzvendra Chahal | India |
629 |
17 |
Bhuveneshwar Kumar | India |
626 |
18 |
Mehedi Hasan | Bangladesh |
617 |
19 |
Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan |
616 |
20 |
Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh |
610 |
Current Top Twenty T20 Batsmen
Position |
Player | Country |
Rating |
1 |
Babar Azam | Pakistan |
896 |
2 |
Glenn Maxwell | Australia |
815 |
3 |
Colin Munro | New Zealand |
796 |
4 |
Aaron Finch | Australia |
782 |
5 |
Hazratullah | Afghanistan |
727 |
6 |
D’arcy Short | Australia |
715 |
7 |
Fakhar Zaman | Pakistan |
681 |
8 |
Alex Hales | England |
664 |
8 |
Rohit Sharma | India |
664 |
10 |
Lokesh Rahul | India |
662 |
11 |
Virat Kohli | India |
659 |
12 |
Reeza Hendricks | South Africa |
642 |
13 |
Shikar Dhawan | India |
639 |
14 |
Jason Roy | England |
635 |
15 |
Evin Lewis | West Indies |
630 |
16 |
Martin Guptil | New Zealand |
624 |
17 |
Kane Williamson | New Zealand |
616 |
18 |
Joe Root | England |
613 |
19 |
Eoin Morgan | England |
596 |
20 |
Shaiman Anwar | United Arab Emirates |
594 |
Current Top T20 Bowlers
Position |
Player | Country |
Rating |
1 |
Rashid Khan | Afghanistan |
757 |
2 |
Imad Wasim | Pakistan |
710 |
3 |
Shadab Khan | Pakistan |
706 |
4 |
Adil Rashid | England |
702 |
5 |
Mitchell Santner | New Zealand |
673 |
6 | Adam Zampa | Australia |
672 |
7 | Andile Phehlukwayo | South Africa |
668 |
8 |
Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh |
663 |
9 |
Mujeeb Zadran | Afghanistan |
652 |
10 | Faheem Ashraf | Pakistan |
641 |
11 |
Ish Sodhi | New Zealand |
637 |
12 | David Willey | England |
636 |
13 | Chris Jordan | England |
635 |
14 | Kuldeep Yadav | India |
632 |
15 | Tim Southee | New Zealand |
623 |
16 |
Liam Plunkett | England |
617 |
17 |
Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan |
613 |
18 |
Billy Stanlake | Australia |
600 |
19 |
Akila Dananajaya | Sri Lanka |
597 |
20 | Tabraiz Shamsi | South Africa |
592 |