England and Sri Lanka will go head-to-head in a five-ODI series from Thursday in London with the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings all set to change.
With 21 ratings points separating number-one ranked Australia from eighth-ranked West Indies, irrespective of the outcome of the series, both third-ranked Sri Lanka and fourth-ranked England will make a move on the rankings table.
Amongst other scenarios, there is a possibility of either side topping the table. But to make that happen, England or Sri Lanka will have to sweep the series. While the side that wins all five matches will finish on top of the tree, the side on the receiving end will end up in fifth position.
So tight is the situation in the upper half of the table, that even a 3-2 series win will mean movement for both sides.
If England wins 3-2, then the two sides will swap places. However, if the series result is reversed, then Sri Lanka will move into second position and England will fall behind South Africa into fifth place.
If England wins 4-1, then Alastair Cook’s side will move into second position and Angelo Mathews’ side will drop to fifth spot. In contrast, if Sri Lanka wins 4-1, then it will move ahead of India into second position, while England will retain fourth spot.
While the two sides will have one eye on the ODI table, they will also be focused on preparing for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which gets underway in Australia and New Zealand on 14 February 2015. This series will provide both sides the opportunity to try different combinations, so that they are in the best shape when they arrive Down Under for ICC’s marquee limited-overs tournament.
Three-time runner-up (1979, 1987 and 1992) England and Sri Lanka, the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 champion, are in Group A of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and will clash in Wellington on 1 March.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara goes in to the series as the highest ranked batsman on either side – in fifth place on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen.
Another Sri Lanka batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan in ninth position is the only other batsman within the top 10 likely to feature in the series.
Outside the top 10, the only other batsmen likely to feature in the series are England’s duo of Eoin Morgan (14th) and Alastair Cook (19th).
England pacer James Anderson starts the series as the highest ranked bowler in seventh position on either side on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers. Anderson is the only bowler inside the top 10 likely to feature in the series.
The only other bowler inside the top 20 to feature in the series is Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews in 20th position.
Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 20 May before England v Sri Lanka ODI series)
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 115
2 India 112
3 Sri Lanka 111
4 England 110
5 South Africa 109
6 Pakistan 100
7 New Zealand 98
8 West Indies 94
9 Bangladesh 73
10 Zimbabwe 61
11 Afghanistan 34
12 Ireland 33
Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 20 May before England v Sri Lanka ODI series)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 881 52.16 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
2 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 872 49.46 883 v Ind at Cardiff 2013
3 ( – ) George Bailey Aus 856*! 53.12 856 v Eng at Adelaide 2014
4 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 840 53.34 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
5 ( – ) K Sangakkara SL 829 40.45 853 v Afg at Mirpur 2014
6 ( – ) MS Dhoni Ind 783 53.28 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
7 ( – ) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 723* 41.77 736 v WI at Kanpur 2013
8 (+1) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 715 44.38 744 v SL at Fatullah 2014
9 (-1) T Dilshan SL 714 37.67 767 v Pak at Sharjah 2013
10 ( – ) Ross Taylor NZ 713! 40.07 713 v Ind at Wellington 2014
11 ( – ) Kane Williamson NZ 688! 39.51 688 v Ind at Wellington 2014
12 ( – ) Shane Watson Aus 676 41.06 773 v SL at Hambantota 2011
13 ( – ) Quinton de Kock SA 673*! 46.31 673 v Ind at Centurion 2013
14 ( – ) Eoin Morgan Ire/Eng 661 39.98 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010
15 ( – ) Michael Clarke Aus 660 44.66 750 v SL at Melbourne 2008
16= ( – ) M Hafeez Pak 654 31.05 665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
( – ) Ahmed Shehzad Pak 654 34.40 670 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
18 ( – ) Umar Akmal Pak 652 38.57 702 v Afg at Sharjah 2012
19 ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 637 38.25 752 v Aus at Lord’s 2012
20 ( – ) Martin Guptill NZ 635 39.16 684 v Zim at Napier 2012
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
23 (+1) Ian Bell Eng 618 37.18 702 v Ind at Edgbaston 2007
26 (+1) Angelo Mathews SL 613 37.07 614 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
30 ( – ) M Jayawardena SL 590 33.17 738 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001
39 (-1) L Thirimanne SL 564 30.22 573 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
41 ( – ) D Chandimal SL 558 31.37 667 v Aus at Adelaide 2012
55 (-2) Ravi Bopara Eng 519 32.09 543 v SA at Cardiff 2012
64 ( – ) Jos Buttler Eng 502* 29.05 508 v WI at Antigua 2014
77 (-1) Kusal Perera SL 472* 28.18 474 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
96 (-3) Thisara Perera SL 410 18.18 424 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating
1 ( – ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 789 22.25 4.14 810 v SA at Centurion 2013
2 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 742 25.49 4.79 746 v Ind at Durban 2013
3 ( – ) Sunil Narine WI 714 26.97 4.19 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
4 ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 676 32.58 4.71 738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013
5 ( – ) L Tsotsobe SA 674 24.96 4.75 743 v NZ at Auckland 2012
6 ( – ) Morne Morkel SA 673 23.54 4.78 717 v SL at East London 2012
7 ( – ) James Anderson Eng 668 28.96 4.97 719 v SA at The Oval 2013
8 ( – ) Clint McKay Aus 666 24.37 4.78 709 v Eng at Cardiff 2013
9 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 648 32.24 4.31 703 v SA at Pallekele 2013
10 ( – ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 639 25.88 4.85 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008
11 ( – ) M Hafeez Pak 637 35.60 4.06 769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
12 ( – ) Kyle Mills NZ 633 26.74 4.72 722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009
13 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 616 32.91 4.90 691 v SL at Hambantota 2012
14 ( – ) Junaid Khan Pak 613 24.37 4.99 655 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013
15= (+1) Kemar Roach WI 607 26.77 4.92 650 v Pak at St Lucia 2013
(+1) Abdur Razzak Ban 607 28.69 4.53 679 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013
(+1) Tim Southee NZ 607 31.52 5.20 633 v Eng at Lord’s 2013
18 (+1) Ryan McLaren SA 605 28.11 5.11 617 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
19 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 601 29.60 4.30 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
20 (-5) Angelo Mathews SL 600 35.72 4.49 649 v Ind at Trinidad 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating
21 ( – ) Lasith Malinga SL 596 26.87 5.15 675 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2007
27 ( – ) N Kulasekara SL 567 32.74 4.68 727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
30 (+1) James Tredwell Eng 560* 26.34 4.84 565 v Ire at Malahide 2013
38 (-1) Tim Bresnan Eng 540 35.20 5.45 605 v Ind at The Oval 2011
39 ( – ) Ajantha Mendis SL 532 20.22 4.40 648 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2011
41 (+4) Suranga Lakmal SL 509*! 29.21 5.48 509 v Ire at Dublin 2014
51 ( – ) Thisara Perera SL 478 27.71 5.45 610 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2012
52 ( – ) Ravi Bopara Eng 475* 34.94 4.80 484 v Aus at Perth 2014
69 (-1) T Dilshan SL 422 46.90 4.74 497 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( – ) M Hafeez Pak 417 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
2= (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 368 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
( – ) Angelo Mathews SL 368 373 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
4 ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 358 378 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013
5 ( – ) Shane Watson Aus 336 433 v WI at St Lucia 2012
! Indicates career-highest rating
*Indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs
