England leapfrogs India to second place in ICC Test Rankings

England’s Ashes win has pushed them up to 2nd in the ICC Test Rankings

A draw in the fifth and final Test of the Ashes series that ended on Sunday helped England to move up one place to second on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings.

England won the series 3-0 and thereby gained four ratings points to finish with 116 ratings points.

England entered the series in third position with 112 ratings points. However, after taking a 3-0 lead in the five-Test series, it needed either a draw or a win to move ahead of India into second position.

A draw in the fifth and final Test resulted in England joining India on 116 ratings points. However, England is ranked above India when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

If Australia had recorded a consolation victory in the final Test, it would have stopped England from leapfrogging India; however, Australia would have still dropped down in the rankings.

Australia dropped four ratings points to drop below Pakistan into fifth place, on 101 ratings points – one behind Pakistan and two ahead of sixth-ranked West Indies.

This is Australia’s lowest finish on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings since August 2011, when it was last ranked fifth.

Reliance ICC Test Rankings table (as on 25 August)

Rank (+/-) Team Rating (+/-)

1 South Africa 135

2 (+1) England 116 (+4)

3 (-1) India 116

4 (+1) Pakistan 102

5 (-1) Australia 101 (-4)

6 West Indies 99

7 Sri Lanka 88

8 New Zealand 79

9 Bangladesh 10