ICC ODI Rankings: New Zealand reclaim top spot after England's series loss to Australia
Following their 3-0 ODI series defeat to Australia, England have lost their number one ODI spot in the latest ICC rankings. New Zealand are back at the top, having exchanged places with England in September.
Before the start of the series, England sat comfortably at the top with 119 rating points, five ahead of the Kiwis. Nevertheless, three consecutive losses resulted in them losing six points, falling behind New Zealand with 113 in their kitty.
The current white-ball cricket champions lose their top spot on the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings 👀
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Australia's dominant performance has been rewarded as well. After registering their first ODI series victory under their new captain Pat Cummins, the Aussies have moved one place to number four with 112 points, displacing Pakistan, who have 107.
It also means that Australia and India are equal on rating points. The latter are at three with 3802 overall points, while Australia have 3572 points. India's next ODI series is against Bangladesh, while Australia's scheduled series against South Africa for the ODI Super League points looks set to be canceled.
England have an opportunity to reclaim their number-one ranking
The English have a chance to regain their number one ODI ranking when they face the Proteas for a three-match away series in January of 2023. The series was originally scheduled to be played in December of 2020.
Visiting captain Jos Buttler, who led them to their second T20 World Cup crown, has called for better scheduling of the series to make ODI cricket relevant. The keeper-batter said, as quoted by BBC:
"Lots of people are talking about how to keep bilateral cricket relevant and this series is a good example of how not to do that. One of the biggest things is having overlapping series. We've got a group of players preparing for a Test series in Pakistan and we've got another group playing here at the same time."
Jos Buttler did not hold back on his thoughts about the ODI series vs Australia 👀 https://t.co/GXQuKQCvcj
England's 221-run loss in the final ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was also their heaviest defeat in the format.