South Africa must win series to hold on to second place

If South Africa fails to win its four Test home series against West Indies it could drop out of the top two in the ICC Test Championship for the first time since the official table was launched in May 2001.

A draw for South Africa in the series that starts in Johannesburg this Friday could allow New Zealand to climb into second spot, while a series defeat would open the door for England as well.

South Africa's current rating is 111 and such is the gap in the official standings to West Indies (83) that it will have to win the series by two clear Tests (3-1 or 2-0) to maintain this rating.

A series defeat by one match for South Africa (2-1 or 1-0) would see its rating fall to 106. If New Zealand wins 2-0 at home against Pakistan it will move up to 109 while England can improve its rating to 107 if it wins its final two Tests in Sri Lanka.

West Indies, currently eighth with a rating of 83, will be looking to close the gap on the top seven sides. Even a 1-0 series defeat will improve its rating but it will need to win the series handsomely to overtake its nearest rival Sri Lanka.

The ICC Test Championship table correct on 8 December 2003

Developed by David Kendix

Note: If ratings are equal, the ratings calculation is refined to three decimal places to determine the higher ranked team.

Full scenarios for South Africa v India Test series:

Ranjan Madugalle from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees will officiate on the series. Darrell Hair and Simon Taufel from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in the first two Tests. The first Test will be Hair's 50th Test Match in the middle.

Srinivas Venkataraghavan will stand with Daryl Harper in the third Test while David Shepherd will join Venkat in the final Test.

The impact future results will have on the ratings is available on the official ICC website. For a full explanation of how the ratings are calculated, visit www.icc.cricket.org.

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