The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched the official ICC Women’s Team Rankings on Thursday in which the results of all three formats of cricket namely T20, ODI and Test will be incorporated into one rankings system.
Reacting to the launch, Indian skipper Mithali Raj said, “I am happy to know that the ICC has launched the ICC Women’s Team Rankings. There will now be added context when the sides play in bilateral series as victories will not only edge teams closer to the ICC Women’s World Cup but will also be rewarded in terms of improvement in rankings.”
“For India, the aim is simple and straight – qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 and, in the meantime, top the rankings. It will be challenging but not impossible, and if we continue to work hard, I don’t see why we can’t achieve these objectives,” she added.
Australia is ranked number one following its success in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 in India and the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2014 in Bangladesh. It also leads the ICC Women’s Championship, which is the qualifying tournament for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.
Meanwhile, England is ranked second in the 10-team table, 10 points behind Australia, followed by New Zealand (109), India (105), West Indies (99), South Africa (92), Pakistan (81), Sri Lanka (74), Bangladesh (57) and Ireland (26).
The rankings table is based on results between three and four years, but with the first two years being weighted at only 50 percent. Currently, the results from October 2012 to September 2014 are weighted at 50 percent, while results since October 2014 are weighted at 100 percent.
The launch of ICC Women’s Team Rankings is part of the ICC ‘s long-term commitment to investing, incentivising, promoting and publicising women’s cricket, which has already started to drive substantial increase in public interest and participation as well as a marked improvement in the standard of the international game.
