Team Rankings

I am changing the way in which I rank the teams in ATG cricket. Previously, the teams were ranked simply by looking at the ratio of wins and draws to matches played over the course of all ATG Tests (this is now the fifth season). This is useful when looking at the teams in an historical context, but it does not take into account current form. I've looked at other ranking methods, and I've taken some ideas from a few of them to produce a new formula.

The new method looks at results from the past three seasons only (seasons 3, 4 and 5), allocating one point for a win, half a point for a draw and none for a loss. One bonus point is now given to series winners, with no bonuses allocated if a series is drawn. Points from the current season are allocated their full worth, but points gained in the previous two seasons are devalued by 50%, thus placing more emphasis on truly current form.

Here are the current rankings up to the end of the AUS v NZ series (Test #168)

		M	Pts
1	England	28	73
2	West Indies	29	67
3	South Africa	24	67
4	Australia	28	65
5	India	24	60
6	Pakistan	31	54
7	New Zealand	26	24

Whilst Australia head the historical table (mainly thanks to their astounding first season - 12 wins, 5 draws, 1 loss and 3 series victories), this new table more accurately represents current form, with England's consistency rewarded with top spot and West Indies' recent recovery placing them in second (they are placed above South Africa due to their recent series victory over the Springboks).