Sri Lanka vs England 2014: Great opportunity for teams and players to improve rankings
Sri Lanka and England have an opportunity to gain vital rankings points when they go head-to-head in the first of seven One-Day Internationals (ODIs) that starts on Wednesday in Colombo.
Fourth-placed Sri Lanka currently hold a one-point lead over England, and can further increase their lead while also reducing the gap with third place South Africa. A seven-nil series win for Sri Lanka will put them ahead of South Africa by a fraction of a point and open up a 12-point gap over England, while a 6-1 win would see it remain in fourth place on 111 points, and hold a nine-point lead over England.
In a sharp contrast, if England win the series seven-nil, they would rise two places to third on 113 rankings points, four adrift of joint leaders Australia and India. A 6-1 win would see England leapfrog Sri Lanka into fourth place on 111 rating points, one rating point behind third-ranked South Africa.
Meanwhile, on the eve of the series, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakarra is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for ODI batsmen. The 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman lies in fifth place, and he will be looking to gain ground on India’s Shikhar Dhawan who is a single rating point ahead of him. The next best-ranked Sri Lanka batsmen are Tillakaratne Dilshan (9th) and Angelo Mathews (10th).
For England, Eoin Morgan (22nd), Cook (23rd) and Ian Bell (27th) are the top-ranked batsmen and will be aiming to head in the upward direction.
In the ICC Players Rankings for ODI bowlers, Lancashire paceman James Anderson is the highest-ranked bowler on either side in fourth place, four places above his team-mate Steven Finn who lies in eighth position. Sri Lanka’s highest-ranked bowler is Rangana Herath (16th) while Mathews lies in 22nd place.
Ahead of the start of the series, in-form Mathews holds a nine-point advantage at the top of the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, with his team-mate Tillakaratne Dilshan in fifth place.