England has now taken up the third spot in the ICC World Test Championship standings with 226 points after their tantalizing victory over West Indies in the final Test between the two teams.
The first and the second positions of the Test rankings are occupied by India and Australia, with 360 and 296 points respectively. England was positioned in fourth place (at 146 points) before its Test series against West Indies. Their victory helped them surpass the previous third rank-holder, New Zealand (at 180 points), and cut to the third position.
England beat their opponents by 269 runs, winning the series by 2-1, and got hold of the Wisden Trophy. The West Indies team had the upper hand at the start of the series and they won the first match of the three-match Test series. However, they couldn’t take hold of the second and the third matches and had to swallow the bitter pill of their defeat.
The England team also played against the South African team and won the four-match Test series by 3-1 earlier in the championship. This also contributed to the rise of the English team’s rank.
The defeat trammelled the chances of improving their rank as the West Indies team could make no progress and stands still at the 7th position with 40 points.
The English players were dynamic throughout the championship. Much of the credit for their wins particularly goes to robust bowling by Stuart Broad and James Andersen. Broad was simply phenomenal and faltered nowhere in delivering spectacular performances.
The championship proved to be a very important event for him as it served as the stage for Broad to cross the monumental milestone of 500 wickets in Test cricket. He made history by becoming only the seventh cricketer ever to achieve this feat.
The England team will be next seen in action on 5th August as the champions clear the decks for taking on Pakistan in a three-match series. The first match will be held in Manchester while the other two matches will be played in Southampton.
England rise up to the third rank in the World Test Championship ranking
