Sri Lanka leap to third in ODI table

The ICC one-day international championship has undergone its annual update, with all results from prior to August 1, 2001, omitted from the new calculations. It is good news for Sri Lanka, who have risen to third place on the strength of their victory in the Asia Cup, but England have slumped to eighth, following their woeful run of form recently.

Australia, naturally, remain streets ahead of the competition, but Sri Lanka had a chance to leapfrog New Zealand in second spot, if they had managed to win all their Asia Cup fixtures. Defeat to India in the last of their group games, however, scuppered that ambition.

South Africa have slipped to fourth spot, following their disappointments at the 2003 World Cup, and a heavy beating against New Zealand earlier this year, and they have a tricky series against Sri Lanka ahead of them if they want to arrest that decline.

New Zealand's rise to second place in the official table caps a remarkable improvement since the start of the year. They began in eighth place, but capped a strong run of form at home with victory in last month's NatWest Series.

Despite losing to Pakistan in the group stage of the Asia Cup, India's appearance in the final has lifted them above Pakistan into fifth spot. England, meanwhile, are now below West Indies, who ousted them from the NatWest Series final, and have a rating of less than 100 for the first time since July 2003. The ratings of Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh remain virtually unchanged as they continue to occupy the bottom three places.