New Zealand has moved into third place on the ICC Test Championship table, courtesy of yesterday's series victory for England against Sri Lanka.
The 02 loss to England, confirmed by the 10-wicket win for the home team in the Old Trafford Test match, has reduced Sri Lanka's points average to 1.07, allowing the Kiwis to claim third spot. That position can be consolidated or weakened depending on the outcome of New Zealand's imminent two Test series in the Caribbean.
England's series win, the team's first since beating the same opponents in Sri Lanka in 2000/01, means an improved points average of 1.06 which keeps it in fifth place, marginally behind Sri Lanka.
ICC Test Championship Table, 18th June 2002
Team Played Won Lost Drawn Points Average
Australia 13 9 2 2 20 1.54
South Africa 16 11 3 2 24 1.50
New Zealand 16 7 5 4 18 1.13
Sri Lanka 15 7 6 2 16 1.07
England 16 7 6 3 17 1.06
West Indies 14 6 7 1 13 0.93
Pakistan 16 4 7 5 13 0.81
India 14 4 7 3 11 0.79
Zimbabwe 16 3 11 2 8 0.50
Bangladesh 4 0 4 0 0 -
About the ICC Test Championship
Two points are allocated for winning a series and one for a drawn rubber. The result and points allocation- of new series replace the previous equivalents.
At present, an average score per series (number of points won divided by number of series played) is used to identify the top side, because not all teams have played each other home and away. This transitional arrangement will change to a straight points system when all teams have played each other home and away, a situation due to be reached in 2005.
The Championship was introduced to add interest, context and excitement to the game at the highest level. It runs on a rolling league basis, with the system used for calculating positions based on the results of the most recent series (a minimum of two Test series applies), home and away, between each of the teams.
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