ODI Rankings Update

There has been a brief respite in ODI cricket lately due to the IPL with only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe playing a series. This all changes though as the Champions Trophy is to be played for the last time next month in England. Despite being in the shadow of the Cricket World Cup, it has been a pivotal tournament for limited overs cricket and produced some entertaining cricket over the years. Australia is the only multiple winner of the tournament with both wins being the last times the tournament has been played. With the advent of T20, it hasn't been played since 2009, and its removal is probably necessary for a more functional and efficient international cricket calendar.

Before that though, Pakistan play matches against Scotland and Ireland, South Africa and the Netherlands will meet up, while there is a short 3 match series between England and New Zealand to be played.

The ICC ODI Rankings tell and interesting story with places being quite tight at the top. With only the top eight countries automatically qualifying for the 2019 World Cup, the rankings are becoming more and more important and relevant in international cricket. Here are how the rankings stand at the moment. Under each team I'll discuss their recent results and fixtures for the rest of the year.

1st                      India                         119
India lead the rankings despite not really playing too much ODI cricket recently. Their last assignment was a home series against England in January. They played well to seal a 3-2 series win which enabled them to top the rankings. Their only relevant form before that was a 1-2 defeat to Pakistan. I'm not sure how they will fare in the Champions Trophy in the English conditions and it will prove a challenge to them. The match against Pakistan may prove critical to who progresses to the semi-finals behind the likely South Africa. After that they head to the West Indies for an ODI Tri-Series with Sri Lanka. With news that their tour to Zimbabwe will be postponed, at this stage there are no more series scheduled until Australia in October.

2nd                      England                     117
England are placed fractionally behind India, although they will fancy themselves to retain the no.1 mantle quite soon. They face New Zealand before the Champions Trophy and should be able to get a series win, while with the home advantage, they are one of the favourites to take home the Champions Trophy. They played New Zealand earlier in the year and won 2-1, after losing the first match, while as mentioned above they lost to India in a close series. The rest of England's 2013 and 2013/14 season features 10 matches against Australia on the back of respective Ashes series, as well as their traditional match against Ireland.

3rd                      Australia                     116
Despite Australia's test misfortunes, they still possess quite a formidable one-day outfit. They will be more accustomed to English conditions, than the subcontinent nations, so would be hopeful of putting up a good performance at the Champions Trophy. They haven't played any ODI's since their home summer when they smashed the West Indies 5-0, while squared the series against Sri Lanka 2-2. The Aussies face England in 10 ODI's next season,  as well as playing a match against Scotland. In between of the two encounters with England they head to back to India later this year for the limited overs portion of their tour, although I don't think a full strength side will be selected.

4th                      South Africa                113
South Africa have slipped a bit in the ODI rankings but have the chance to get back into contention for top spot with an impressive Champions Trophy. Them along with England will be the teams to beat. They have also organised an ODI against the Netherlands in preparation for the tournament. South Africa beat Pakistan 3-2 in a close fought series in March, although were upset by New Zealand earlier this year 1-2. They drew 2-2 with England last September so will be hoping to improve on that form next month. Following the Champions Trophy, they head to Sri Lanka for 5 ODI's, and are also scheduled to play Pakistan and India at the beginning of the 2013/14 season.

5th                      Sri Lanka                    108
Sri Lanka were disappointing in their last series, only able to draw 1-1 at home against Bangladesh. They did though play well against the Australians in January to earn a 2-2 series draw, and beat New Zealand 3-0 at home in November. Sri Lanka always bring their best to global one-day tournaments and they will be hoping to knock off the hosts in the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka have quite a busy end to the 2013 season with a Tri Series in the West Indies, before a series at home against South Africa. The South Africa matches will prove crucial if Sri Lanka hold any hope of making some gains on the top 4 in the rankings. They are also scheduled to play Zimbabwe and New Zealand later this year.

6th                      Pakistan                      106
Pakistan are always a dangerous ODI side. On their day they have the potential to beat any side. The challenge for them is to do this more consistently. They fell short in South Africa, although they did manage two victories, while at the beginning of the year they beat India 2-1 in their first bilateral contest in years. Pakistan are not messing around with their preparation for the Champions Trophy having organised 2 matches each against Scotland and Ireland (kudos to Pakistan for this!). They will be hoping to acclimitise to conditions before their Champions Trophy campaign. Pakistan will be looking to improve their rankings with potential series against South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe later this year.

7th                      West Indies                   86
I think it is time for the West Indies to push up the table back to where they belong. After being in a decade of despair, they won their first limited overs trophy since 1979 in the form of the T20 World Cup last year. As of yet their T20 ability has yet to translate to the 50-over game. Although they smashed Zimbabwe recently, their series losses to Bangladesh and Australia were disappointing. The loss to Bangladesh was especially worriesome, as Bangladesh are creeping up on the West Indies in the rankings. The 'windies' are in a tough group in England and will need to play at their best of their ability to be able to progress to the semi-finals. After that they will be hoping to impress their supporters in the Tri-Series against India and Sri Lanka and the series against Pakistan.

8th                      New Zealand                         82
New Zealand are the team most likely to be nervous about impeding World Cup qualification for 2019. At times over the past few years they have dropped to 9th, so will need sustained improvement to ensure safe qualification for 2019. Their form recently has shown this needed improvement with an upset win over South Africa away from home. They also got a win in their home series in India. The kiwis have one of the best records in one-day tournaments and will  be hoping to prove this again this year. After their matches in England, they have a break before travelling to Bangladesh in October which is shaping up to be a massive series.

9th                      Bangladesh                         78
Bangladesh have played really well as of late and have in fact won 6 of their past 11 matches against the eight major full members. This incorporated falling just short of a maiden Asia Cup title, a 3-2 series win over West Indies, as well as a 1-1 draw against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately their form away from home has let them down, with a recent 1-2 defeat to Zimbabwe. This dashed their chances of overtaking New Zealand into 9th position. Bangladesh don't play many matches so they need to take the most of their opportunities. Case in point is only having 3 ODI's scheduled for the rest of the year (against New Zealand) which are critical for the tigers.

10th                      Zimbabwe                         51
Zimbabwe had been starved of international cricket before their West Indies tour, having not played for over 12 months. It was no surprise then that they were completely outplayed by the West Indies. Their performance against Bangladesh though showed that if they can get their off-field matters sorted out (a big if, I know) they have the potential to be a decent side, particularly at home. This will be put to the test later this year with home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Although Ireland, Netherlands and Kenya form the rest of the table, it seems pointless to even mention them in this capacity due to their near impossible chances of making any substantial gains in the ranking system. The associates though are in the middle of a three-year World Cup qualifying campaign. Ireland and Netherlands are currently on top and would be favourites to stay there by the end of the year.

There are some matches against the full members though planned this year for the associates. (Not many, and lets hope that in future more countries play them as well)
17th May: 1st ODI - Scotland v Pakistan @ Grange Cricket Club, Edinburgh, Scotland
19th May: 2nd ODI - Scotland v Pakistan @ Grange Cricket Club, Edinburgh, Scotland
23rd May: 1st ODI - Ireland v Pakistan @ Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, Ireland
26th May: 2nd ODI - Ireland v Pakistan @ Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, Ireland
31st May: Only ODI - Netherlands v South Africa @ VRA Ground, Amstelveen, Netherlands
3rd September: Only ODI - Ireland v England @ Malahide, Dublin, Ireland
3rd September: Only ODI - Scotland v Australia @ The Grange, Edinburgh, Scotland

Brief summary of full members fixtures for the near future:
June: 3 match series between England and New Zealand (England)
June: ICC Champions Trophy (England)
July: Tri-Series between West Indies, India and Sri Lanka (West Indies)
July: 5 match series between Sri Lanka and South Africa (Sri Lanka)
July/August: 5 match series between West Indies and Pakistan (West Indies)
September: 5 match series between England and Australia (England)
October: 3* match series between Bangladesh and New Zealand (Bangladesh)
October: 3* match series between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka (Zimbabwe)
October: 5* match series between India and Australia (India)
October/November: 5* match series between Pakistan and South Africa (UAE?)

*Zimbabwe's series against India of 3 ODI's has been apparently postponed. Zimbabwe and Pakistan are looking to play their series this year though.

What a great four or five month period we have set for ODI cricket. The last Champions Trophy will obviously be the highlight, however there some enticing clashes to be played such as Sri Lanka and South Africa, England and Australia, and Bangladesh and New Zealand. With the 2015 Cricket World Cup less than 2 years away, every country will be looking to build up some winning form.