New Zealand's historic series win in the West Indies has strengthened its position in third place on the ICC Test Championship table. The Kiwi's 1-0 victory, courtesy of the 204 runs win in Barbados and a drawn match in Grenada, adds two points to its total and improves its series points average to 1.18. Sri Lanka (1.07) and England (1.06) remain in fourth and fifth places respectively.

Stephen Fleming's side is the first from New Zealand to win a series in the Caribbean. The last meeting in the West Indies in 1995/96 ended in a 1-0 victory for the home team.

The defeat leaves West Indies in sixth place, but with a reduced series points average. Its record now shows six wins, eight defeats and a single draw from the 15 series it has played in the Championship.

ICC Test Championship Table, 4th July 2002

Team          Played   Won   Lost   Drawn   Points  Average
Australia       13      9      2      2       20      1.54
South Africa    16     11      3      2       24      1.50
New Zealand     17      8      5      4       20      1.18
Sri Lanka       15      7      6      2       16      1.07
England         16      7      6      3       17      1.06
West Indies     15      6      8      1       13      0.87
Pakistan        16      4      7      5       13      0.81
India           14      4      7      3       11      0.79
Zimbabwe        16      3     11      2        8      0.50
Bangladesh       4      0      4      0        0       -

About the ICC Test Championship
Two points are allocated for winning a series and one for a drawn rubber. The result –and points allocation- of new series replace the previous equivalents.

At present, an average score per series (number of points won divided by number of series played) is used to identify the top side, because not all teams have played each other home and away. This transitional arrangement will change to a straight points system when all teams have played each other home and away, a situation due to be reached in 2005.

The Championship was introduced to add interest, context and excitement to the game at the highest level. It runs on a rolling league basis, with the system used for calculating positions based on the results of the most recent series (a minimum of two Test series applies), home and away, between each of the teams.

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Email: mark.harrison@icc-cricket.com

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