The Cluttered at top & flawed ICC test rankings

ICC Test rankings 1 India (112 points), 2 Pakistan (111), 3 Australia (108), 4 England (108), 5 New Zealand (99), 6 Sri Lanka (95), 7 South Africa (92), 8 West Indies (65), 9 Bangladesh (57), 10 Zimbabwe (8)

India was briefly No.1 a few months back .....Aus took that over and now India has risen again to No. 1.....Pak and Eng were both in breathing distance from the No.1 spot a few days back.

the difference between the teams is very fine at the top....
the rankings are flawed...who would believe that SA is 7th ranked side in the world today

The flaw--> and a very material one---> rankings do not differentiate between a home win and an away win
away wins should get atleast 50% more if not double the weight of a home win.
Eng( in Aus and SA) and Pak( in Eng) have won away from home and would easily be the top sides...had they gotten due credit for it

a secondary and relatively smaller flaw-->innings win should  earn some bonus points

I heartily agree on the home weighting thing. India now have a run of 13 home tests before they travel again which in theory pretty much sews up the top spot for them.

But the general picture of the rankings ... that all the top teams are pretty close ...is reflected both in results and in looking at their sides from our own non stats based subjective viewpoint.
South Africas fall has been pretty marked, but then many of their key players have had dips, their results have been poor, and they lack depth beyond those stars. They also dont play enough tests ...but thats another thing.

Personally i do agree with Misbah that Pakistan possibly deserve the number one spot more than India, but its not like Pakistan are a clear best in the world beat anyone side.
What have done is restore some pride and come back form a very dark place not only with honour but also with the desire to actually perform in test cricket.

Ranking issues aside its fabulous to see comeptitive series. Even Aus getting whitewashed...there were games they could or should have won in that.
New Zelaand SA is huge now, and betwene two sides that coudl be very comeptitive. England in India (lets ignore Bangladesh) will be a monster both sides are desperate to win.

Its just a shame we wont see India Pakistan for over a year by which time the picture may have changed dramaticaly. Pakistan should be full of confidence for the Australasia tour though off the back of their series in England.

The rankings only ever tell part of the story : since Tests are played far apart , as they have to be given their length , much of the data leading to the ranking total is basically "historical" .
A team with a terrific run of success over two or three years will still have the benefit of that even after half their team retires and they've seriously slumped : so they'll show as top ranked for some time after ceasing to be so...Until the earlier results drop off and their ranking falls off a cliff.
This is what has happened to SA.

In truth the top rank etc often doesn't mean much at all. Adjustments for away wins would change things around a bit but still wouldn't overcome the time lapse problem.
Top spot is a reward for past achievement more than a true indicator of current merit. Which is OK , but should be seen for what it is.

When there is a clear best team (West Indies late last century , Australia turn of the millennium , SA recently) they'll be clear at the top.
When there isn't , you'll see a bunch at the top : which is accurate. Any of the top four right now has some claim to be top dog ; and also black marks against them.
India are dreadful away from home , as are Australia . England have been too inconsistent ; and Pakistan need to actually win something outside their adopted home.

Quite like a crowded leaderboard , to be honest.

I take them with a massive pinch of salt. Until they are actually used for something meaningful, then the issues highlighted aren't really a problem. I think we can all judge who the better teams are and how they would be likely to fare in particular conditions

I could see a clamour for a change to the basis of them if, for example, Test cricket did move to two divisions and the initial split was based on the rankings. Those countries borderline between Div 1 and Div 2 would surely want the system changing leading up to that point

VTR is right - the rankings mean nothing until they bring in this two tiered system and a proper championship for it (so desperately needed imo)