Zimbabwe and Pakistan will contest the second One Day International (ODI) series to be played since the introduction of the ICC ODI rankings.

Zimbabwe, ranked ninth with a rating of 67, plays host to Pakistan, ranked fourth with a rating of 115, in a five-match series beginning in Bulawayo tomorrow.

ICC ODI Championship Table (correct on 22 November 2002)

 
Ranking    Team              Pld   Points    Rating

1          Australia          27    3465       128
2          South Africa       38    4571       120
3          Sri Lanka          35    4092       117
4          Pakistan           32    3675       115
5          India              37    3883       105
6          West Indies        28    2701        96
7          England            21    2014        96
8          New Zealand        31    2832        91
9          Zimbabwe           28    1886        67
10         Kenya              12     263        22
11         Bangladesh         13     145        11

Developed by David Kendix

A good series for the home side will see them improve their rating into the mid-70s while a Zimbabwe whitewash would cause Pakistan to drop below India in the rankings.

A comfortable series victory for Pakistan would give them the opportunity to move into third place in the ICC ODI Championship table. This would depend on the outcome of the series between South Africa (2nd) and Sri Lanka (3rd) who are due to play five matches against each other from November 27th. A heavy defeat for either South Africa or Sri Lanka in that particular series could see them fall into fourth place behind Pakistan.

Elsewhere the West Indies' winning start to their series of seven ODIs against India saw them overtake England to move into sixth place in the ICC ODI Championship table. India meanwhile consolidated fifth place in the table by winning three of the next four matches in the series.

"One of the primary aims behind the introduction of the new ICC ODI Rankings is to add context and interest to every match in every series," said ICC General Manager-Cricket, David Richardson. "The matches between India and West Indies have already proved this to be the case. With 10 of the 11 full members in ODI action over the next month there are a lot of points at stake and a good run of results from any one of these sides could affect the rankings."

The ICC ODI Championship table is updated on the ICC website - www.icc.cricket.org - after every ODI match. There is also an interactive Predictor on the website which allows cricket fans to forecast the impact of future results.

The Zimbabwe v Pakistan ODI series will be refereed by Clive Lloyd with David Orchard from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires standing in all five matches.

Fixtures:

Bulawayo, Queens Sports Club November 23
Bulawayo, Queens Sports Club November 24
Harare, Harare Sports Club November 27
Harare, Harare Sports Club November 30
Harare, Harare Sports Club December 1

How the ICC ODI rankings work:

The formula used by the ICC to determine team Ranking positions takes into account the following factors:

- results from all ODI matches played over the previous two to three years
- strength of opposition, with greater reward for beating higher ranked opponents
- greater importance is placed on more recent results, with older matches dropped every 12 months
- all matches have equal status, with no account taken of venue or margin of victory

For the full formula visit www.icc.cricket.org.

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Mark Harrison	Jon Long
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Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7266 7935	Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7266 7912
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