Dubai, Oct 30 (IBNS) The countdown to the final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will begin on Thursday when former champions Sri Lanka and New Zealand will go head to head in a five-ODI series in Pallekele.
This series will serve as a curtain-raiser for what will be a thrilling season of ODI cricket, and the next eight months will provide all eight leading ODI sides a perfect opportunity to fine-tune their preparations for one of the ICC’s major events.
In June 2013, defending champion Australia will be looking for a treble, having won the previous two editions of the ICC Champions Trophy (2006 and 2009).
But Australia will face stiff challenge from former champions South Africa (1998), New Zealand (2000), India and Sri Lanka (2002), and West Indies (2004), who will each be looking to lift the trophy for a second time by winning the final edition of the event.
The six top ranked ODI sides, along with the West Indies and New Zealand, will be playing a number of ODIs (mostly in the New Year) that will help them to gear up for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
In January 2013, Australia will host Sri Lanka for a five-ODI series, England will play five ODIs in India, and New Zealand will travel to South Africa for three ODIs.
ODI series taking place from February-March include Australia v West Indies (in Australia, five ODIs), New Zealand v England (in New Zealand, three ODIs) and South Africa v Pakistan (in South Africa, five ODIs).
And all this will begin in Pallekele on Thursday when Sri Lanka hosts New Zealand in a five-ODI series. Straight after this series, Bangladesh will host the West Indies for a five-ODI series.
While all the sides will have one eye on the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, the other eye will be on the Reliance ICC ODI Championship as the battle for the coveted number-one position remains tight.
Currently, only 17 ratings points separate the top six sides, with England and South Africa on equal points at 121. However, Alastair Cook’s side is rated above AB de Villiers’ side by a fraction of a point.
World champion India is just one rating point behind, with four-time world champion Australia trailing India by seven ratings points.
1992 world champion Pakistan is sixth, four ratings points behind Sri Lanka, while 2002 ICC Champions Trophy winner New Zealand is on 74 ratings points.
Sri Lanka will have to win the series against New Zealand starting 1 November to stay ahead of Pakistan in fifth place. A 3-2 series win for New Zealand will mean Sri Lanka will slip to 103 ratings points, one behind Pakistan, while a 5-0 series win for Sri Lanka will put it just three ratings points behind fourth-ranked Australia.
The side that tops the Championship table on the 1 April cut-off date collects a cheque of US$175,000 along with a Shield while the team that finishes second receives a cheque of US$75,000.
Reliance ICC ODI Championship
Rank Team Rating
1 England 121
2 South Africa 121
3 India 120
4 Australia 113
5 Sri Lanka 108
6 Pakistan 104
7 West Indies 94
8 New Zealand 74
9 Bangladesh 71
10 Zimbabwe 50
11 Ireland 35
12 Netherlands 16
13 Kenya 11
(Developed by David Kendix)
Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Ranking
1 Hashim Amla SA 901! 59.55 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
2 Virat Kohli Ind 858 51.81 866 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2012
3 AB de Villiers SA 852! 49.21 852 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
4 K Sangakkara SL 773 38.72 781 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2012
5 Jonathan Trott Eng 749 49.06 781 v Ind at Mumbai 2011
6 MS Dhoni Ind 745 51.17 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
7 Michael Clarke Aus 718 45.48 750 v SL at Melbourne 2008
8 Alastair Cook Eng 707 40.01 752 v Aus at Lord's 2012
9 G Gambhir Ind 689 40.94 722 v NZ at Vadodara 2010
10 Mike Hussey Aus 688 48.15 857 v NZ at Perth 2007
11 S Al Hasan Ban 683! 35.63 683 v Pak at Mirpur 2012
12 Shane Watson Aus 680 41.48 773 v SL at Hambantota 2011
13= Eoin Morgan Ire/Eng 674 40.70 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010
Umar Akmal Pak 674 38.00 702 v Afg at Sharjah 2012
15= T Dilshan SL 667 35.15 765 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2011
Brendan Taylor Zim 667! 34.84 667 v NZ at Napier 2012
Ross Taylor NZ 667 38.19 693 v Aus at Adelaide 2009
18 Jacques Kallis SA 664 45.26 817 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
19 Paul Stirling Ire 640* 39.13 650 v Sco at Edinburgh 2011
20 M Jayawardena SL 639 33.34 738 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Ranking
1 Saeed Ajmal Pak 759! 23.26 4.14 759 v Aus at Sharjah 2012
2 M Hafeez Pak 747 32.86 4.04 762 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2012
3 L Tsotsobe SA 690* 22.05 4.67 743 v NZ at Auckland 2012
4 R Ashwin Ind 681 30.50 4.78 691 v SL at Hambantota 2012
5 Morne Morkel SA 676 23.32 4.87 717 v SL at East London 2012
6 Steven Finn Eng 668* 25.90 4.67 711 v Aus at Durham 2012
7 Graeme Swann Eng 661 26.31 4.47 735 v Ind at Hyderabad 2011
8 S Al Hasan Ban 655 28.85 4.29 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
9 Kyle Mills NZ 647 25.99 4.69 722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009
10 Dale Steyn SA 644 28.20 5.03 666 v Ind at Nagpur 2011
11 Abdur Razzak Ban 637 28.12 4.48 675 v Zim at Chittagong 2010
12 Sunil Narine WI 634*! 18.82 3.66 634 v NZ at St Kitts 2012
13 Jacob Oram NZ 630 28.92 4.37 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
14 Clint McKay Aus 626* 22.40 4.68 639 v Eng at Old Trafford 2012
15 James Anderson Eng 624 30.54 5.01 687 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
16 Tim Southee NZ 617! 31.09 5.20 617 v WI at St Kitts 2012
17 Ray Price Zim 614 35.75 3.94 722 v WI at Guyana 2010
18 M Johnson Aus 611 25.52 4.85 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008
19 Shahid Afridi Pak 605 33.69 4.60 673 v Ban at Mirpur 2011
20 L Malinga SL 604 26.57 5.10 674 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2007
