Zimbabwe left out of Test rankings

Zimbabwe have dropped out of the ICC Test Championship as a result of them only playing eight Tests in the last three years. Test match rankings have historically been based on a minimum of 10 Tests played by each country over the three to four-year period.

At the top of the table, Australia have stretched their lead and are now 26 rating points clear of second-placed England. Sri Lanka are another eight points further back having moved up two places to third position, and South Africa are also up two places from sixth spot to fourth. Pakistan are the big loser after the update having dropped three places from third to sixth.

The annual update is carried out to ensure the LG ICC Test Championship table continues to reflect recent form with older results being discarded. As such, the new table only includes results from series completed after August 1, 2004.

The update is always scheduled to take place on August 1 each year, but as no series are set to finish ahead of that date, it can be carried out now. By updating the table now it means that England and India will know what progress they can make before their series starts on Thursday.