England’s women cricket team have reached the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s team rankings for the first time after winning the Women’s World Cup this year beating India by nine runs in an intensely fought final.
England is now at par with the Aussies at 128 points but ahead on decimal points which makes them the No 1 side in the world. The rankings now take into account the performances of a team in the current season at full 100 percent while 50 percent from the previous two seasons.
Australia has slipped to the second spot for the first time after a combined Women’s Ranking was introduced in 2015. They are currently at 128.43 points whereas England has climbed from 125 points to 128.47 points courtesy their world cup win earlier this year.
England’s tour to Australia later this year will be of great significance since the Women’s team ranking takes into account the performance across all the three formats. England is scheduled to play one test, three ODI and three T20Is from October 22 to November 21.
“It”s flattering to be named as the No.1 side in the world because it”s a sign of how much progress we”ve made,” England captain Heather Knight said while talking about reaching the top spot.
“It won”t take anything away from the challenges ahead of us, though. We”re a developing side and our journey isn”t finished yet. We have plenty more hard work to do, starting with the Ashes in Australia this winter but it has been a great 12 months for us. We”ll never forget the feeling of winning the ICC Women”s World Cup on home soil and we want to keep pushing forward as a side so we can experience more moments like that,” she further added.
Indian skipper Mithali Raj while talking to the media said, “Gaining these valuable points is no mean achievement and have come after some fine performances over the past year, including at the World Cup. I”m sure this will inspire our team in matches ahead. We are now close to New Zealand in the rankings and will aim to be number three.”
India gained three points to reach 116 points after their World Cup brilliance though they remain at the fourth spot with New Zealand occupying the third place.
The Caribbean side is in the fifth spot but has lost four-point which take their tally to 111 points while South Africa remains tied in the sixth position. Pakistan is on 72 points losing one point to be at the seventh position while Sri Lanka occupies the eight spot.
Bangladesh and Ireland occupy the bottom of the table with 37 and 30 points respectively.