England look to retain third position in Windies series

• Australia and Sri Lanka compete in mid-table clash for important Test ranking points
• Anderson, Khawaja, Holder and Chandimal leading players to be seen in action

England will have to win their upcoming three-match series against the Windies starting on Wednesday in order to retain third position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings while Australia and Sri Lanka will vie for important points in their two-match series starting a day later.

England’s challenge starts in Bridgetown with the Joe Root-led side knowing they have to win by at least a 1-0 margin to remain ahead of fourth-ranked New Zealand. A series victory will keep England ahead of New Zealand (107) on decimal points while a drawn series will see them drop to fourth position and 105 points.

A 3-0 sweep will lift England to 109 points but they will remain behind India and South Africa, while the Windies will remain in eighth position irrespective of how the matches pans out.

In the other series starting on Thursday, Australia and Sri Lanka will remain in fifth and sixth positions, respectively, whatever the series result. Australia will gain three points and go up to 104 if they win 2-0 with Sri Lanka losing two and going down to 89 in such a scenario. Sri Lanka can go up to 95 points and to within two points of Australia with a 2-0 series win. The predictor function is available here.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, second-ranked England fast bowler James Anderson would be looking to overtake South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, with only eight points separating them while captain Joe Root will be the top-ranked batsman for the visiting side. For the Windies, Roston Chase (43rd) will the leading batsman in terms of rankings and captain Jason Holder (10th) the leading bowler.

For Australia, the fast bowling pair of Pat Cummins (fourth) and Josh Hazlewood (11th) among bowlers and Usman Khawana (12th) among batsmen will be the ones fancying their chances of moving up high on the rankings. Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal (16th) will be the top-ranked batsman for the visiting side in the absence of Angelo Mathews while Dilruwan Perera (26th) will be their top bowler.

Series scenarios:

Windies v England

• England win 3-0 – England 109 points, Windies 69 points
• England win 2-0 – England 108, Windies 70
• England win 1-0 or 2-1 – England 107, Windies 72
• Drawn series – England 105, Windies 74
• Windies win 1-0 or 2-1 – England 104, Windies 77
• Windies win 2-0 – England 103, Windies 78
• Windies win 1-0 – England 102, Windies 79

Australia v Sri Lanka

• Australia win 2-0 – Australia 104 points, Sri Lanka 89 points
• Australia win 1-0 – Australia 103, Sri Lanka 90
• Drawn series – Australia 100, Sri Lanka 92
• Sri Lanka win 1-0 – Australia 98, Sri Lanka 94
• Sri Lanka win 2-0 – Australia 97, Sri Lanka 95

Upcoming fixtures:

Windies v England:

23-27 Jan: 1st Test, Bridgetown
31 Jan-4 Feb: 2nd Test, Antigua
9-13 Feb: 3rd Test, Gros Islet

Australia v Sri Lanka:

24-28 Jan: 1st Test, Brisbane
1-5 Feb: 2nd Test, Canberra

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 21 January, before the Windies-England and Australia-Sri Lanka series):

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 21 January, before the Windies-England and Australia-Sri Lanka Tests)

Batsmen (top 20)

Bowlers (top 20)

All-rounders (top five)

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating

For more information on player rankings, please click here.