West Indies must win 2-0 to improve rating

West Indies needs to win both matches in the two Test series against Zimbabwe to improve its rating in the ICC Test Championship table, starting tomorrow in Harare.

West Indies is currently eighth in the official standings with a rating of 83 which is eight behind Sri Lanka in seventh. A 2-0 series win would close that gap to six points by boosting the West Indies rating to 85 but a 1-0 series win would see no change.

A 2-0 win for hosts Zimbabwe, ninth in the table, will not be enough for it to overtake West Indies but it will close the gap between the sides to only 12 points.

Elsewhere, England's 2-0 series win over Bangladesh lifted it to third in the official standings for the first time since November 2001.

Pakistan's 1-0 home series win over South Africa last month helped it climb to fifth spot - ahead of India for the first time since July 2002.

November is a quiet month for Test cricket with Zimbabwe v West Indies the only scheduled series.

Eight of the ICC Full Member countries will have an opportunity to improve their ratings in December in following series:

Sri Lanka v England (3 Tests)
Australia v India (4 Tests)
South Africa v West Indies (4 Tests)
New Zealand v Pakistan (2 Tests)

ICC Test Championship table correct on 3 November 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 Zimbabwe v West Indies Test series:

Gundappa Viswanath from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees will officiate on the series. Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in the first Test with Rudi Koertzen accompanying Taufel in the second 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.

ICC media contacts: