Australia loses top ODI spot to England after annual update

Four-time former world champion Australia has lost its number-one position on the Reliance ICC ODI Championship for the first time since September 2009 following an annual update which took place on Wednesday.

Australia has fallen to fourth spot which is its lowest ranking since the ODI table was launched in 2002 as its outstanding record of 30 wins and eight defeats from 40 ODIs in 2009-10 does not reflect any longer after the update.

Following this year's annual update, England has become the number-one ranked ODI side, leading second-placed South Africa by one-sixth of a rating point, while world champion India is third ? just one ratings point behind England. Australia trails England by nine ratings points.

The annual rankings update is carried out to ensure the Championship tables continue to reflect recent form. As such, the new tables only include results from matches played from August 2010, with older results from between August 2009 and July 2010 being discarded.

This is the first time England has topped the ODI Championship table since it was launched in 2002. It is also the first time England can claim to be the top ODI team since January 1996, after the rankings are applied retrospectively.

Below the top four, the ODI rankings are unchanged. However, the gap between seventh-placed West Indies and eighth-ranked New Zealand has grown from six to 20 points, while ninth-placed Bangladesh is now only three points behind New Zealand.

Reliance ICC T20I Championship table

Meanwhile, South Africa has replaced England as the number-one ranked side on the Reliance ICC T20I Championship table after the annual update.

However, the number-one T20 ranking, like in the current Test and forthcoming ODI series, will be up for grabs when the reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion England and South Africa go head to head in a three-T20I series starting on 8 September in Chester-le-Street.

Currently, both the sides are separated by one ratings point.

Australia has slipped from sixth position to ninth, as its excellent results in early 2010 have now been removed, while West Indies has moved up from eighth to fifth after benefiting from the exclusion of its results from early 2010.

Only 11 teams are now ranked on the T20I table. The remaining five sides ? Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland ? have played fewer than eight Twenty20 Internationals since August 2010. These sides will rejoin the table once they have played eight T20 Internationals.

Reliance ICC ODI Championship (as of 8 August, after the annual update and before the England v South Africa series)

Rank Team Rating (+/-)
1 England 121 (+3)
2 South Africa 121 (+3)
3 India 120 (+1)
4 Australia 112 (-7)
5 Sri Lanka 108 (-2)
6 Pakistan 105 (+2)
7 West Indies 94 (+6)
8 New Zealand 74 (-8)
9 Bangladesh 71 (+4)
10 Zimbabwe 50 (+4)
11 Ireland 35 (-1)
12 Netherlands 16 (+1)
13 Kenya 11 (+3)

Reliance ICC T20I Championship (as of 8 August, after the annual update)

Rank Team Rating (+/-)
1 South Africa 130 (+8)
2 England 129 (-1)
3 Sri Lanka 119 (+9)
4 India 111 (+1)
5 West Indies 111 (+8)
6 Pakistan 109 (+1)
7 New Zealand 101 (-4)
8 Bangladesh 95 (+5)
9 Australia 93 (-14)
10 Ireland 88 (+5)
11 Zimbabwe 47 (-4)

Not ranked as fewer than eight T20I matches played since August 2010

Afghanistan 92 (+9)
Netherlands 73 (-1)
Scotland 67 (+12)
Canada 11 (-5)
Kenya 2 (-11)

(Rankings table devised, developed and maintained by David Kendix, member of ICC Cricket Committee)
*Explanatory note: Every year, the tables are updated in order to keep them current and relevant, so changes occur as old results are removed from the reckoning.

This latest table reflects all ODI and T20I matches completed since August 2010 with results from the previous year having dropped off. Over the next 12 months, new results will be added to the table as they happen so that by July 2013 there will be three years of results taken into consideration.

This process is repeated each year, with the oldest of the three years of results removed to be replaced gradually with results of matches played over the following 12 months. This means that once a year the teams? ratings can change overnight without any new ODI and T20I matches being played.

For more information on the Reliance ICC ODI Championship click here.

For more information on the Reliance ICC T20I Championship click here.

For information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.relianceiccrankings.com.