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New Zealand and West Indies eye improvement in Test ratings

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Download the Reliance ICC Rankings App viawww.icc-cricket.com/mobileto predict outcome of the series

New Zealand and the West Indies begin their contest in a three-Test series from 3 December in Dunedin with an aim to improve their ratings points on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings Table.

West Indies enters the series in sixth position on 95 ratings points, while New Zealand starts off in eighth place with 75 ratings points.

If New Zealand was to win the series by a margin of 2-0, it can rise up to 82 ratings points, while a 3-0 series sweep will hand the home team a rise of eight ratings points to thereby finish at 83.

In both scenarios (New Zealand winning 2-0 and 3-0), West Indies will move down to seventh place behind Sri Lanka.

If New Zealand wins the series by either 1-0 or 2-1, or even if the series is drawn 0-0 or 1-1, there will be no change in West Indies’ final position on the table.

For the West Indies, the series offers an opportunity to reduce the gap with fifth-ranked Australia. But this can only happen if it wins the series by either a 2-0 or 3-0 margin.

If West Indies wins the series by a 2-0 margin, it will gain two ratings points to end at 97, to thereby reduce the gap with fifth-ranked Australia to four ratings points. A 3-0 series win, will give West Indies a gain of four ratings points, thereby reducing the gap with Australia to just two.

With the top four sides as of 31 December 2016 qualifying for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship scheduled for 2017, every Test counts towards the qualification.

To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please clickhere. The Test Ranking Table, unlike the ODI and T20I Rankings tables, are updated after every series.

Meanwhile, Shivnarine Chanderpaul starts the series as the highest-ranked batsman on either side in second position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Chanderpaul trails number-one ranked AB de Villiers by 11 ratings points and stands a good chance of even breaking the 900-rating point barrier, a benchmark for top batsmen, for the second time in his career.

Ironically, the first time Chanderpaul breached the 900-point mark was also after a Test against New Zealand at Napier in December 2008.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor in 12th and West Indies’ Marlon Samuels in 19th are the only other batsmen on either side inside the top 20.

Outside the top 20, the batsmen likely to be in action are Darren Bravo in 25th, Kane Williamson in 27th, Brendon McCullum in 34th, BJ Watling in 48th, Kieran Powell in 51st and Denesh Ramdin in 58th.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, West Indies spinner Shane Shillingford in 16th place is the only bowler inside the top 20.

Outside the top 20, the bowlers likely to feature in the series include Tim Southee in 21st, Trent Boult in 25th, Darren Sammy in 33rd, Doug Bracewell in 43rd, Narsingh Deonarine in 44th, Neil Wagner in 45th and Tino Best in 55th.

The bowlers’ table is headed by Dalen Steyn with compatriot Vernon Philander in second and Sri Lanka’s Ranagana Herath.

About ICC World Test Championship

The inaugural ICC World Test Championship (ICC WTC) will be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2017.

The qualification pathway for the ICC World Test Championship is through the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings, with the qualifying period being from 1 May 2013 to 31 December 2016.

The top four teams at the conclusion of the qualification period will qualify for the event in 2017. The results of all Test series ending after 1 May 2013, and the results of all Test series starting before 31 December 2016, will be included in the period that determine qualification for the ICC WTC.

The official hashtag for the ICC World Test Championship is #wtc

Fixtures:
New Zealand v West Indies
3-7 Dec: 1st Test, Dunedin
11-15 Dec: 2nd Test, Wellington
19-23 Dec: 3rd Test, Hamilton

Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table (as on 1 December, before the start of the New Zealand v West Indies series)

Rank Team Rating
1 South Africa 131
2 India 119
3 England 106
4 Pakistan 102
5 Australia 101
6 West Indies 95
7 Sri Lanka 88
8 New Zealand 75
9 Zimbabwe 34
10 Bangladesh 18

(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 1 December, before the start of the New Zealand v West Indies series)Batsmen

Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 AB de Villiers     SA 909! 51.44    909 v Pak at Dubai 2013
2 Hashim Amla      SA 898 52.32    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 S.Chanderpaul     WI 875 51.71    901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4 Michael Clarke    Aus 870 52.14     900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
5 K Sangakkara      SL 866 56.98    938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
6 C Pujara               Ind 801*! 65.50    801 v WI at Mumbai 2013
7 Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak 783! 46.03    783 v SA at Dubai 2013
8 Graeme Smith     Eng 771 49.36    843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
9 Younus Khan       Pak 769 51.17    880 v SL at Lahore 2009
10 Alastair Cook      Eng 740 47.75    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
11 Ian Bell                Eng 729 46.26    822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
12 Ross Taylor         NZ 721 42.81    785 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2012
13 Jacques Kallis     SA 704 55.44    935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
14 Kevin Pietersen Eng 693 48.06    909 v WI at Headingley 2007
15 Jonathan Trott     Eng 667 46.45    856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
16 Asad Shafiq         Pak 660* 39.11    680 v SA at Cape Town 2013
17 David Warner      Aus 659! 39.35    659 v Eng at Brisbane 2013
18 M Jayawardena   SL 639 49.56    883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
19 Marlon Samuels  WI 638 36.74    672 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
20 Virat Kohli          Ind 634* 41.16    648 v Aus at Mohali 2013

Selected Rankings

Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
25 Darren Bravo WI 611 42.65    709 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
27 Kane Williamson NZ 605! 34.78    605 v Ban at Mirpur 2013
34 B McCullum NZ 569 34.98    673 v Pak at Hamilton 2011
48 BJ Watling          NZ 469*!  34.58    469 v Ban at Mirpur 2013
51 Kieran Powell      WI 463* 30.32    468 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
58 Denesh Ramdin   WI 439! 26.53    439 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
64 Peter Fulton         NZ 403*  31.22 413 v Eng at Auckland 2013
66 Darren Sammy    WI 393 21.23    452 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
72 H Rutherford       NZ 380* 33.91    454 v Eng at Wellington 2013
80 N Deonarine        WI 349*  27.68    401 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
95 Tim Southee        NZ 298 19.18    304 v Eng at Headingley 2013

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 Dale Steyn           SA 903         22.65  908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 Vernon Philander SA 899* 17.50    901 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 Rangana Herath   SL 831   29.52    838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
4 Saeed Ajmal        Pak 824 26.54    855 v Zim at Harare 2013
5 R Ashwin             Ind 808! 27.47    808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
6 Ryan Harris         Aus 801*!    21.81    801 v Eng at Brisbane 2013
7 Stuart Broad        Eng 772   30.10    783 v WI at Lord's 2012
8 Peter Siddle         Aus 760 29.06 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
9 Pragyan Ojha       Ind 756 30.26    773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
10= Graeme Swann    Eng 709 29.18    858 v Pak at Lord's 2010
  James Anderson  Eng 709 30.35    813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
12 Abdur Rehman    Pak 703* 27.55    739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
13 Morne Morkel     SA 700 30.23    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14 Kemar Roach       WI 668* 27.71    712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
15 Ben Hilfenhaus    Aus 652* 28.50 757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
16 S Shillingford      WI 635*!    31.27    635 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
17 Shakib Al Hasan  Ban 614 32.60    680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
18 Nathan Lyon        Aus 609*!    32.44    609 v Eng at Brisbane 2013
19 Mitchell Johnson Aus 598         30.11    825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
20 Zaheer Khan        Ind 588 32.35    752 v SA at Durban 2010

Selected Rankings

Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
21 Tim Southee        NZ 585* 34.33    621 v Eng at Lord's 2013
25 Trent Boult          NZ 518*   30.82    558 v Ban at Chittagong 2013
33 Darren Sammy    WI 485*   35.66    568 v Aus at Bridgetown 2012
43 Doug Bracewell   NZ 395* 36.26    538 v WI at Kingston 2012
44 N Deonarine        WI 391*!    27.42    391 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
45 Neil Wagner        NZ 379*!    36.00    379 v Ban at Mirpur 2013
55 Tino Best             WI 311* 39.20    419 v Ban at Khulna 2012
61 Shannon Gabriel  WI 289*  23.18    360 v Zim at Dominica 2013
63 V Permaul           WI 279* 32.00    282 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
65 Kane Williamson NZ 269* 38.18    291 v Eng at Headingley 2013
71 Marlon Samuels  WI 232* 52.14    250 v Zim at Dominica 2013
79 Sunil Narine        WI 191* 48.06    282 v NZ at Kingston 2012
94 Ish Sodhi              NZ 120*!    44.16    120 v Ban at Mirpur 2013
96 Corey Anderson  NZ 112*!    22.00    112 v Ban at Mirpur 2013

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 R Ashwin Ind 419*/!  419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
2 Shakib Al Hasan  Ban 362 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3 Jacques Kallis     SA 332   616 v Pak at Durban 2002
4 Stuart Broad        Eng 302 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
5 Vernon Philander SA 283*/* 312 v Pak at Centurion 2013

*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

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