Australia confirmed as top seed for ICC Champions Trophy 2008

Sri Lanka’s consolation victory in tri-series keeps it ahead of England in sixth place LG ICC ODI Championship TableReigning champion Australia has been confirmed as the top seed for this September’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan after the completion of the preliminary round matches of the tri-series in Melbourne on Friday.

The cut-off date for the determination of the seedings for the ICC Champions Trophy 2008 is 12 March. But with only the finals of the tri-series remaining, the LG ICC ODI Championship table can not be changed irrespective of how the best-of-three final pans out.

South Africa, winners of the inaugural tournament in 1998 in Bangladesh, will be seeded second followed by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and the West Indies in the eight-team tournament. The groupings will be announced on 12 March.

Sri Lanka avoided a slip in the LG ICC ODI Championship table, the yardstick to decide teams seedings, when it signed off with a 13-run victory over Australia. Had Australia won the game, Sri Lanka would have slipped to seventh position with England moving up to sixth place.

Australia and India will now go head-to-head in the best-of-three finals, aware of the fact that whatever the outcome, the championship table will not change.

However, if India wins the final in two matches Ricky Ponting’s side will drop to 127 ratings points, same as South Africa but ahead of Graeme Smith’s side when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Likewise, India will also join New Zealand on 113 ratings points but will remain in fourth position when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.

On the other hand, if Australia wins the tournament in two straight matches, it will go to 132 ratings points with India staying on 110 points. A 2-1 win for Australia would mean that the home team would finish on 130 points while India would return home on 111 ratings points.

In the latest LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, no Sri Lanka batsman now figures in top 10 after Kumar Sangakkara dropped four places to 12th position. Captain Mahela Jayawardena is in 20th position.

Ponting leads the batsmen’s list with Adam Gilchrist breathing down his neck in second place after rising four places. Gilchrist, who retires after this series, is just 32 points behind and has a realistic chance of signing off on top of the list.

Besides Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden is the only other Australia batsman to make some progress while Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds all slipped down the ladder. Hayden climbed one place to 11th position while Clarke slipped three places to fifth position, Hussey dropped two places to seventh spot and Symonds fell three positions to 14th spot.

For India, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the highest-ranked batsman in ninth position while Sachin Tendulkar improved by three places to 11th spot, a place he which he shares with Symonds. Yuvraj Singh is in 17th spot after dropping one place.

Gautam Gambhir is the most improved batsman after rising 10 places to 26th position.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Sri Lanka’s trio of Muttiah Muralidaran, Farveez Maharoof and Lasith Malinga lost ground. Muralidaran dropped two places to eighth place, Maharoof slipped one place to 10th spot and Malinga fell three places to 17th position.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori’s top position is under serious threat by second-placed Australia fast bowler Nathan Bracken who is just 12 points behind. A good performance in the final can help him claim the coveted spot.

Bracken’s team-mate Brett Lee has improved two places and now sits on fifth position while Mitchell Johnson is on 11th spot and could well break into the top 10 for the first time.

India has no bowler in the 10 top and Harbhajan Singh in 22nd position is the highest-ranked India bowler. Irfan Pathan is in 30th place after climbing five spots while Ishant Sharma is 110th after gaining 27 places.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik heads the LG ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders with South Africa’s Jacques Kallis in second place, just three points behind.

Remaining matches:

2 March – 1st final, Sydney

4 March – 2nd final, Brisbane

7 March – 3rd final (if required), Adelaide