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LANGUISHING no more than 12 months ago among the also-rans, Australia has returned to the top of the ICC Test rankings, edging out South Africa which had held the title since 2012.
And in a further boost, Australia also remains on top of the one-day international rankings, the first time the nation has held top spot in both Tests and ODIs at the same since 2008.
It’s the first time in almost five years that Australia has ruled the test world and captain Michael Clarke was genuinely overwhelmed.
“We are incredibly proud to be the number-one ranked team in Test and ODI cricket in the world, which are two of the team’s most important goals,” he said.
2 years of hard work from all getting to number 1, now it's going to take even more work to stay there. A very proud day!
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) April 30, 2014
“We are incredibly proud to be the number-one ranked team in the world in both Test and ODI cricket, which are two of the team’s most important goals,” he said.
“There has been an enormous amount of hard work and effort on and off the field that has led to this result.”
Australia last held the number-one Test ranking in August 2009, when it was displaced after losing 2-1 to England.
Australia was the first team to be ranked number-one in Test cricket when the ICC introduced the current rankings system in 2003.
Since the system was introduced, Australia has been ranked as the number-one Test side for 74 months, more than any other side. South Africa is a distant second, having spent 23 months on top.
In the latest Test table, Australia gained eight ratings points to move up from 115 to 123.
That was equal to South Africa, who dropped from 127 to be level on 123, but Australia moved ahead by a fraction of a point.
With the 2010-11 defeats dropped from ranking calculations — a period in which Australia lost to India and England, and the 2012-13 series defeat to India having half its weighting, Michael Clarke’s side was able to make its move.
After losing last year’s Ashes series in England 3-0, following a tumultuous period in which coach Mickey Arthur was sacked, Australian cricket has gone from strength to strength.
While replacement Darren Lehmann endured that tough campaign he quickly turned things around with Australia sweeping their return series against England 5-0 during the last summer.
His side then scored an impressive 2-1 away series win over South Africa.
The only anomaly for the side remains the Twenty20 format where Australia failed to make it out of the group stages at this year’s World Cup in Bangladesh and is ranked sixth in the world.
In Test format England moved up one place to third while the Australians edge India, then Sri Lanka in the ODI rankings.
Test rankings
1. Australia 123 2 South Africa 123 3 England 104 4 Pakistan 103 5 India 102 6 New Zealand 92 7 Sri Lanka 90 8 West Indies 76 9 Zimbabwe 40 10 Bangladesh 21
ODI rankings
1 Australia 115 2 India 112 3 Sri Lanka 111 4 England 110 5 South Africa 109 6 Pakistan 100 7 New Zealand 98 8 West Indies 94 9 Bangladesh 73 10 Zimbabwe 61 11 Ireland 34 12 Afghanistan 34
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And in a further boost, Australia also remains on top of the one-day international rankings, the first time the nation has held top spot in both Tests and ODIs at the same since 2008.
It’s the first time in almost five years that Australia has ruled the test world and captain Michael Clarke was genuinely overwhelmed.
“We are incredibly proud to be the number-one ranked team in Test and ODI cricket in the world, which are two of the team’s most important goals,” he said.
2 years of hard work from all getting to number 1, now it's going to take even more work to stay there. A very proud day!
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) April 30, 2014
“We are incredibly proud to be the number-one ranked team in the world in both Test and ODI cricket, which are two of the team’s most important goals,” he said.
“There has been an enormous amount of hard work and effort on and off the field that has led to this result.”
Australia last held the number-one Test ranking in August 2009, when it was displaced after losing 2-1 to England.
Australia was the first team to be ranked number-one in Test cricket when the ICC introduced the current rankings system in 2003.
Since the system was introduced, Australia has been ranked as the number-one Test side for 74 months, more than any other side. South Africa is a distant second, having spent 23 months on top.
In the latest Test table, Australia gained eight ratings points to move up from 115 to 123.
That was equal to South Africa, who dropped from 127 to be level on 123, but Australia moved ahead by a fraction of a point.
With the 2010-11 defeats dropped from ranking calculations — a period in which Australia lost to India and England, and the 2012-13 series defeat to India having half its weighting, Michael Clarke’s side was able to make its move.
After losing last year’s Ashes series in England 3-0, following a tumultuous period in which coach Mickey Arthur was sacked, Australian cricket has gone from strength to strength.
While replacement Darren Lehmann endured that tough campaign he quickly turned things around with Australia sweeping their return series against England 5-0 during the last summer.
His side then scored an impressive 2-1 away series win over South Africa.
The only anomaly for the side remains the Twenty20 format where Australia failed to make it out of the group stages at this year’s World Cup in Bangladesh and is ranked sixth in the world.
In Test format England moved up one place to third while the Australians edge India, then Sri Lanka in the ODI rankings.
Test rankings
1. Australia 123 2 South Africa 123 3 England 104 4 Pakistan 103 5 India 102 6 New Zealand 92 7 Sri Lanka 90 8 West Indies 76 9 Zimbabwe 40 10 Bangladesh 21
ODI rankings
1 Australia 115 2 India 112 3 Sri Lanka 111 4 England 110 5 South Africa 109 6 Pakistan 100 7 New Zealand 98 8 West Indies 94 9 Bangladesh 73 10 Zimbabwe 61 11 Ireland 34 12 Afghanistan 34
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