Cricketer magazine lists Windies #7
The Cricketer magazine has placed West Indies at a lowly seventh place in the rankings for Test competition, according to its January 11 list. Following their 2-0 loss to New Zealand in January the regional team finds itself on 39 points behind Australia who are number one with 72. South Africa follows close behind on 70 in second place while Pakistan are third with 49. New Zealand are at fourth with 47 and India and New Zealand are joint fifth with 45. Behind West Indies are England with 31 and Zimbabwe 19. Australia moved to the top of the table after winning three matches against India while South Africa could manage just one win in the second, third and fourth Tests against England. Based on the current ratings, England's Tests next summer against West Indies and Zimbabwe will be contested by the three weakest teams in Test cricket. Pakistan stretched their lead n the One-Day International table with victories in the first two matches of the triangular series in Australia. New Zealand draw level with India in fourth place after their 5-0 series win against West Indies, while Zimbabwe's 3-1 defeat in their five-match home series with Sri Lanka keeps them in ninth position, the lowest of the Test-playing nations. Michael Atherton's century at Port Elizabeth spared England the embarrassment of going through 1999 without an individual Test century. Nasser Hussain followed suit at Durban but a total of just two centuries in the year is the lowest by England since 1972 when, in a total of seven Tests against Australia and India, no English batsman made a hundred.
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