Method
How does it all get worked out?
The basis of the table is that it takes into account each team’s current form, how well each team plays in a series – not just the overall score.
It takes into account whether a team is playing at home or away, who won the toss and the exact result of each match!
The table is changed in proportion to how many tests are played – thus winning a five test series is better than winning a two test contest
To gain from a series you have to win by a bigger margin (or lose by a lesser margin) than your (and your opponent’s) current standing suggests you will.
The details!
- Two teams contest the series – they come into it with scores X & Y and they will play a number of tests (T)
- They gain series points by winning matches (more points if away from home, more points if lost toss) or if they are the away team in a drawn match.
- Added to these points are the series run per wicket each team gets. (The away team’s runs per wicket is adjusted to reflect the away disadvantage).
| Win toss & win match | Lose toss & win match | Draw | Lose match | Series run-rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 9.75 | 10.25 | 0 | 0 | total runs scored / total wickets lost |
| Away | 11.75 | 12.25 | 2 | 0 | 1.1 x total runs / total wickets |
- The series points are added up to give scores Q & R for each team. These are adjusted so that Q2+R2 = X+Y
- The number of tests is placed into a formula T/(T+6) to give the fraction (G) that the current series is worth of the team’s total points: (G x Q2) + (1-G)X = new table total e.g. if 3 tests are played the series points gained are worth 1/3 of their new total and their previous table score is worth 2/3.
An example… 3 match series between Sri Lanka and England from Dec 2003 (Sri Lanka won 1-0, there were 2 draws)
| Sri Lanka - home team | England - away team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing score before series began | B & C | 35.46 | 41.19 |
| Total score available is B + C = 76.65 | |||
| Test results | 1 home win (away team won toss) | 2 away drawers | |
| Points scored from match results | Q | 10.25 | 4 |
| Total runs / wickets losts | 1846/45 | 1437/56 | |
| Calculate run rates | R | 41.02 | Add 10% 28.23 |
| Total scores gained from series | Q + R = Tot-home(H) & Tot-away(A) | 51.27 | 32.23 |
| Total score gained is H + A = 83.50 | |||
| Adjusted series score to equal total points available | H-adj = H x (B+C)/(H+A) A-adj = A x (B+C)/(H+A) | 47.06 | 29.59 |
| The adjusted scores totalled together now equal the Total Score Available | |||
| The series is worth G and G=T/(T+6) where T is number of tests - therefore 3/(3+6) = 33.33% = G | |||
| New total | (G x H-adj) + ((1-G) x B) (G x A-adj) + ((1-G) x C) | 1/3*47.06 + 2/3*35.46 | 1/3*29.59 + 2/3*41.19 |
| 39.33 | 37.32 | ||
Check out the FAQ to see why these figures were chosen and also to see how the ratings have developed over the years.