by Wisden staff
Sunday, January 5, 2003

Wisden ODI table
How the table works

South Africa have overtaken Australia as the No. 1 side in the world as a result of their 2-0 series win over Pakistan – well, according to the ICC Test Championship.

The world outside South Africa will mutter "yeah, right" and continue to debate whether Steve Waugh's Australians are the greatest team of all time, let alone of the present. They removed any lingering doubts as to their contemporary status with convincing home and away series wins over South Africa last winter. The ascendancy of South Africa gives further ammunition to those who have been criticising the Test Championship since its inception, and it is hard to defend a system which produces a result that all but the most one-eyed regards as ridiculous.

The anomaly could be put right within four months if Australia beat West Indies in the Caribbean in April/May. Unless Australia lose that series, they will return to the top when they meet and beat Bangladesh in two Tests in June/July, restoring a semblance of common sense to the Championship.

The defeat in South Africa doesn't affect Pakistan's ranking – they remain in eighth position.

How the table works

The new championship is based on the table Wisden had been advocating since November 1996, but with two crucial changes. ICC decided to discount all one-Test series (which Wisden had included), and did away with Wisden's cut-off point, whereby series that were more than seven years old disappeared from the table - provided they have taken place since May 1996.

The table works on a rolling basis and the trophy is presented every time the lead changes hands: Australia became the first recipients of the sparkling new mace before the Ashes series. As before, it's two points for a win and one for a draw, with teams ranked on an average-points-per-series basis until 2005, when they will be ranked on a simple points basis, because - world politics permitting - everyone will have played everyone else home and away by then.

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