In order to provide relevance to Test cricket, the ICC introduced a ranking system in the Summer of 2003 to boost competition and make teams strive to be better and thus, improve the game overall. The basis of such a decision was that when teams are pitted against each other, it creates a sense of rivalry and increased competitiveness.
Since June 2003, the ICC have released ratings at the end of each month. Australia, England, India, South Africa and most recently, Pakistan are the 5 teams to have sat on top of the team ratings in the 13 years since the introduction of the rating system.
After every Test series, the teams involved secure a certain number of points. These points are divided by the number of matches to give each team a rating, and it is on the basis of this rating, that the teams are ranked.
Apart from just providing the rankings, the ICC also awards a trophy to the highest ranked team known as the ICC Test Championship Mace. Apart from this, the team that sits on top of the rankings also receives a cash prize of $1 million every April 1st.
Since 2003, there have been long stints and short stints at the top, here, we list the 5 longest reigns on the top of the rankings.
Note: The same formula was applied on all Tests dating back to 1952, thus some of those reigns will not be included here. This list highlights all the stints since June 2003, when the ranking system was introduced.
1) England: 12 months
Despite many highs like the 2005 Ashes in the 13 year period since the rankings were introduced, England topped the ratings only once, from August 2011 - August 2012. They rose to the top after decimating India at home and let their throne slip after a loss to the Proteas at home.
They were captained by Andrew Strauss and boasted of one of the best squads with the likes of Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and the bowling attack of Staurt Broad, James Anderson and Graeme Swann.
After the high of climbing to the top with a comfortable win over India, they did not perform very well as the No. 1 ranked side. Their 12 month stint comprises of a 3 - 0 whitewash in UAE by Pakistan, a drawn series away at Sri Lanka, a comfortable 2 - 0 win over the Windies at home and finally, the home loss to South Africa, where they ended up losing their No. 1 spot.
2) South Africa: 18 months
South Africa held the top spot in the rankings from July 2014 - January 2016. Their ascension to the top was complete after a draw against Sri Lanka in Colombo and they were dethroned after slipping to 2 - 0 in the 4 match home Test series against England.
It was a period in which they were captained by Hashim Amla and had a very talented side with match-winners like AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis and Dale Steyn all playing a major part for them.
In the 18 month period, the Proteas recorded an away win in Zimbabwe, comfortably overwhelmed the Windies at home, drew away with Bangladesh and were decimated in India.
3) South Africa: 21 months
South Africa feature in this list for the second time, having reigned supreme in a 21 month period August 2012 and May 2014. They only lost the No. 1 ranking to Australia for a 3-month period before regaining it in July. They rose to the top beating England away in 2012, before slipping up against the Aussies at home in 2014.
This South African team was arguably one of their most-talented ever. They were ably captained by Graeme Smith, who had the likes of Hashim Amla, AB De Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to call upon.
As the No. 1 ranked team, they performed superbly with wins over Australia away and home victories over New Zealand, Pakistan and India.
4) India: 21 months
India were at the top of the rankings during a very successful period for the team in general between November 2009 and August 2011. During this time period, India were also crowned world champions in ODIs and were excelling under Gary Kirsten’s guidance.
They clinched the top spot after easily overcoming Sri Lanka at home, and lost the No. 1 ranking after a humiliating series in England in 2011. The side was captained by MS Dhoni and had the ‘golden generation’ of India’s cricketers including Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.
In the 21 month period, India did not suffer a series defeat before the tour of England. They recorded wins over Bangladesh and West Indies away, while comfortably overwhelming Australia and New Zealand at home.
5) Australia: 74 months
Australia were the dominant force in the game in large parts of the 90s and early 2000s. Such was their dominance that when the same ‘ranking formula’ was applied to games before 2003, it was revealed that Australia were actually No. 1 for 112 months between April 2000 and August 2009.
The foundation was set by the mercurial Steve Waugh, who instilled a steeliness in his players that the game had barely seen in the past. When he passed the mantle onto Ricky Ponting, he accepted it gratefully and went on to lead the Australian team into many successes.
For large periods, Ponting had players including the likes of Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath to call upon. Absolutely terrifying. Barring the loss against England in the 2005 Ashes and India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy of 2008-09, this team hardly skipped a beat.
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