Test rankings are official now

Test rankings are official now
Greg Buckle

MELBOURNE, FEBRUARY 11: The 10 Test-playing nations will compete for world supremacy under a new ranking system, International Cricket Council (ICC) President Malcolm Gray said on Sunday. Under the new system, starting on May 1, all 10 countries would play home and away series against each other within a five-year period as part of a 10-year Test and limited-overs programme, Gray told a news conference in Melbourne.

But icon series such as Australia vs England, Australia vs West Indies, England vs West Indies and India vs Pakistan, would be permitted to use four-year cycles instead of five. The system is to begin with the England home series against Pakistan in May. ‘‘The system used for calculating the rankings will be based on the results of latest series, home and away, between each of the teams...two points for winning a series and one for a drawn rubber,’’ Gray said.

The first league table would include results from the past five years of Test cricket. Gray said the aim of both the tours programme and the ICC Test Championship was to add interest, context and status to Test match cricket. ‘‘There is a feeling at times that the one-day internationals may have taken over the limelight a bit, away from the Test matches,’’ Gray said, adding that a trophy would be awarded to the winners. ‘‘Cricket is a statistical game in many ways and we would hope that a lot of supporters of the game would be interested in constantly monitoring who is on top of that ladder.’’

Gray said the plan for the tour programme had taken several years to prepare and two versions were considered, one of which included the top two nations playing in a championship final. He said with the demands of tours, it was impossible to schedule a separate playing championship. ‘‘This will be the first time a co-ordinated calendar of international cricket has been adopted, giving the opportunity for long-term planning and preparation. ‘‘It will provide nations such as Zimbabwe and Bangladesh with regular fixtures against all other teams.’’

Umpires to get eye and hearing tests

Umpires will get eye and hearing tests from next year, the ICC announced. ICC President Malcolm Gray said the move had caused some mirth in cricketing circles but the tests were part of a policy to make umpires more professional in line with the increasing professionalism of cricket’s players and administrators. Gray said the ICC was looking at using two independent umpires for all the tests around the world from April 2002 but there were scheduling and financial difficulties. ‘‘There was a feeling that the regulation of the game on the ground was the one area of the game that wasn’t completely professional,’’ Gray said.