England Record Lowest Qualification In Test Cricket Since 1995, Drop Nine Points With 4-1 Home Win Over India In 2018 No Longer Counting For Qualification; England drop to sixth in the standings, behind Pakistan, but remain second on the ODI and T20I lists after the annual ICC update
England have won one and lost 11 of their previous 17 Tests
England have slipped to sixth in the world test rankings before the Ben Stokes era with the ICC’s annual update seeing the team record their lowest points rating since 1995.
Stokes, who succeeded Joe Root as captain last week, takes charge of a team that has managed just one win and suffered 11 losses in its last 17 Tests.
England lost 1-0 at the West Indies in March, a result that followed a 4-0 thrashing of the Ashes in December and January, and have now seen their rating drop from 97 to 88 points with the 4-1 win at home to India. in 2018 deleted from the classification.
Stokes’ team has fallen behind Pakistan (93 points), which completes the top five behind Australia (128), India (119), New Zealand (111) and South Africa (110).
The new rankings reflect all test series played since May 2019, with those completed before May 2021 weighted at 50 percent and series after 100 percent.
England face New Zealand and South Africa in three-Test series at home this summer, while they will also face India in a rearranged game from last summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The India Test result will be included in England’s current standings, with the standings being updated after the conclusion of that match, which takes place at Edgbaston between July 1-5.
Stokes spoke to the media on Tuesday for the first time since being appointed, saying Test cricket was his “No. 1 priority” and that he wanted “disinterested” players on his team to move on.
The 30-year-old also explained why he is so passionate about Test cricket, saying: “If you’ve played five-day Tests, all the way through, the feeling of winning that game, you don’t really understand that.” otherwise.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen from day to day, session to session. There are a lot of ups and downs and things can change.”
“That’s what I love about it, it’s proper hard work. That’s why it’s called Test Cricket. Test cricket is the best format, the purest form.
“Completely realistically, winning one game in 17 isn’t good enough for the people we have on our team. We can look at that and say there’s only one left, which is up.”
“We haven’t been good enough. That’s not an insult to any individual, as I’ve been a part of it. As a team, we know we haven’t been good enough, we haven’t played at the level that we know we can.”
“It’s about understanding that and fixing it, but we have to understand that things aren’t going to happen overnight. I can’t expect it to click and all of a sudden we’re No. 1 a year from now.”
“I’m very excited about the role of making the England Test team great again. It’s a huge goal for me.”
Stokes also explained how vital it is that England’s new test coach – Gary Kirsten, Simon Katich and Ottis Gibson are some of the names reported in the framework – share the same philosophy as himself and the newly appointed general manager of cricket. Male, Rob Key. .
The all-rounder added: “The main thing is that Rob, the coach and I have the same vision for this test team.
“It’s great to have individual ideas, but if most of your ideas don’t line up and three people think completely different things, I don’t see how things can get any better.
“Having a coach on the same wavelength as us is very important.”
Australia have extended their lead at the top of the Test standings from one point to nine, with Pat Cummins’ men following up their success at the Ashes with a 1-0 victory in Pakistan.
England remain second in the one-day international rankings but are now just one point behind New Zealand and 17 ahead of third-placed Australia.
England also remain second in the international T20 rankings but have seen India extend their lead over them from one point to five.
First Test (Lord’s) – June 2-6
