ICC Test Championship

. The competition is notional in the sense that it is simply a ranking scheme overlaid on all international matches that are otherwise played as part of regular Test cricket scheduling.

In essence, after every Test series, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's points total is divided by the total number of matches to give a 'rating', and the Test-playing teams are ranked by order of rating (this can be shown in a table).

The points for winning a Test match or series are greater than the team's rating, increasing the rating, and the points for losing the match or series are always less than the rating, reducing the rating. A drawn match between higher and lower rated teams will benefit the lower-rated team at the expense of the higher-rated team. An 'average' team that wins as often as it loses while playing a mix of stronger and weaker teams should have a rating of 100.

As of December 22, 2007, Australia lead the ICC Test Championship with a rating of 143, ahead of three teams on 109; South Africa, Sri Lanka, and India. The lowest rated team, Bangladesh, has a rating of just 4.

Test Championship calculations

The calculations for the Table are performed as follows:
* Each team scores points based on the results of their matches.
* Each team's "rating" is equal to its total points scored divided by the total matches and series played. (A series must include at least two Tests).
* A series only counts if played in the last three years.
* Series played in the first two years of the three-year limit count half; essentially, recent matches are given more weight.
* To determine a team's rating after a particular series:
** Find the series result
*** Award 1 point to a team for each win
*** Award 1/2 point to a team for each draw
*** Award 1 bonus point to the team winning the series
*** Award 1/2 bonus point to each team if the series is drawn
** Convert the series result to actual ratings points
*** If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is less than 40 points, then the ratings points for each team equals:
****"(The team's own series result) multiplied by (50 points MORE than the opponent's rating) PLUS"
****"(The opponent's series result) multiplied by (50 points LESS than the opponent's rating)"
*** If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the stronger team equals:
****"(The team's own series result) multiplied by (10 points MORE than the team's own rating) PLUS"
****"(The opponent's series result) multiplied by (90 points LESS than the team's own rating)"
*** If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the weaker team equals:
****"(The team's own series result) multiplied by (90 points MORE than the team's own rating) PLUS"
****"(The opponent's series result) multiplied by (10 points LESS than the team's own rating)"
** Add the ratings points scored by the team to the total ratings points already scored (in previous matches, as reflected by the Table) and calculate the new rating.

Current ranking

ee also

*ICC ODI Championship
*International structure of cricket
* Cricket Rating Systems
* LG ICC cricket ratings
* AQB Sports Ratings
* Rediff Cricket Rankings
* XODI Extended ODI Cricket Ratings

External links

* [http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/rankings/rankings.html ICC Test and ODI Championship Rankings]