History of CEAT cricket rating system

CEAT Cricket Awards ceremony

Over the years, the game of cricket has seen many classic encounters that have been labelled as timeless matches. We have witnessed inspiring performances which have transformed players into icons. Be it Sir Viv Richards smashing the opponent bowlers aside or Mohinder Amarnath claiming the wicket of Michael Holding to win India’s first World Cup in 1983, there have been moments that have shaped the status of the players and made the game into a modern day spectacle.

But what was all of these emerging heroes lacked was an accolade which would recognize their efforts and their significant contributions to their respective nations. It was only appropriate that the gentleman’s game acknowledged these wonderful protagonists of the sport for their fantastic performances. Luckily, all that changed in 1995 when the legendary trio of Clive Llyod, Sunil Gavaskar and Ian Chappell took the initiative to establish a rating procedure to reward the best players on the international stage.

Professional Management Group and CEAT created the world’s first ratings and awards, which recognize and reward international cricketers for their performances. Since 1958, CEAT has developed into one of the biggest tyre manufacturing companies in the world. They manufacture market tubes and flaps along with trailblazing tyres.

In 1996, West Indies batsmen Brian Lara became the first cricketer to be named as the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year. Since then, several illustrious names have won the laurel including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Pointing and Rahul Dravid.

The performances of players and teams are evaluated over a yearly period. The CCR rating system follows a common points system for players on the basis of their performances in the Test and 50 over ODI formats.

But the rating system had to be updated because of the emergence of T20 cricket in 2005. With a fast and heavy hitting approach taking over the game, various attributes like a batsman’s strike rate and a bowler’s economy rate had to be considered in the new rating system. Based on that perspective, the CEAT T20 Rating was introduced in October 2007.

CEAT has always believed in youth and hence rewards a young U-19 cricketer each year. As of now Vijay Zol from Maharashtra is leading the CEAT Cricket Ratings in both ODIs and Tests. CEAT also started the Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2009.

In 2010, the ‘Retro Awards’ were awarded for the very first time, in which the standout performers from all the World Cups till 2007 were felicitated. Last year, a new category called the ‘India-Pakistan Special awards’ were introduced based on both ODI and Test performances by these two countries’ players in the past.

CEAT has to be credited for turning the rating idea into reality.