Current World Rankings

Based on matches up to 23rd October 2016

Ranking	Flag	Team	Played	Weighted	Points	Rating
1		Australia	38	28	5,774	206
2		New Zealand	46	33	6,514	197
3		England	48	34	6,108	180
4		Jamaica	40	31	5,485	177
5		South Africa	65	43	6,770	157
6		Malawi	50	34	4,408	130
7		Tonga	15	14	1,677	120
8		Uganda	49	33	3,941	119
9		Wales	30	23	2,699	117
10		Scotland	23	19	2,088	110
11		Trinidad & Tobago	27	21	2,031	97
12		Northern Ireland	27	19	1,668	88
13		Zimbabwe	41	28	2,398	86
14		Barbados	29	22	1,762	80
15		Sri Lanka	14	11	817	74
16		Zambia	25	16	1,140	71
17		St Vincent & Grenadines	13	11	760	69
18		Samoa	22	17	1,166	69
19		Fiji	24	21	1,430	68
20		Cook Islands	13	9	593	66
21		Grenada	10	9	514	57
22		Philippines	6	6	337	56
23		Namibia	36	24	1,308	55
24		Botswana	24	17	925	54
25		UAE	9	7	298	43
26		Isle of Man	22	16	659	41
27		Singapore	31	23	918	40
28		Eswatini	6	6	210	35
29		Malaysia	14	13	440	34
30		Ireland	28	22	740	34
31		St Lucia	13	11	366	33
32		USA	11	10	327	33
33		Malta	9	7	178	25
34		Brunei	6	6	150	25
35		Kenya	24	15	349	23
36		Cayman Islands	19	16	344	22
37		Antigua & Barbuda	24	16	322	20
38		Gibraltar	19	15	271	18
39		Papua New Guinea	20	16	181	11
40		Tanzania	15	11	55	5
41		Hong Kong	6	6	22	4
42		St Kitts & Nevis	11	6	19	3
43		Lesotho	6	3	0	0
43		St Maarten	11	6	0	0
43		Switzerland	9	7	0	0

This rankings system was developed for the INF by statistician David Kendix.

The first list was published on 11 February 2008. The latest list has been updated on 24th November 2016 and includes matches up to 23rd October 2016. The ranking list relates to senior teams of member countries that are playing regular international test matches. To find out more about how the system works read below and click here for Frequently Asked Questions.

A rating is a measure of the average performance of a team over a series of matches. Each team earns a certain number of points from each international match. Their rating is the total number of points earned divided by the number of matches played. The team with the highest rating is ranked first in the world. The next highest rating is ranked second and so on.

Weighting Matches played a long time ago are a poorer guide to current form than more recent results. Therefore past results are weighted, giving a lower weighting to earlier results. For the purposes of this list, matches played since July 2015 currently have a full weighting (100%). Matches played in the two previous years (July 2013-June 2015) have a weighting of 50%. Earlier matches are not directly included in the ratings at all.

Each July, the oldest year of results will drop out of the ratings and the weightings redistributed. This is the one annual occasion when the rankings list could alter other than through a match being played.

Points:

The number of points earned by a team for any match depends on two factors. The result (won, tied or lost) and the opponent against whom the result was achieved. The higher an opponent’s rating the more points are earned for beating them.

If a team wins a match they will earn 50 points more than their opponent’s rating.  But if they lose, they will earn 50 points less than their opponent’s rating. Worked numerical examples appear in the Frequently Asked Questions.

Rating Period:

It is not meaningful for a team to claim a world ranking if they have only played a small number of matches. As soon as a team has played eight International test matches over the rating period then they will have earned an official world ranking. If a team has played fewer than eight matches, they will still have a rating, but without a corresponding ranking.  To have a ranking the team must have played at least 2 games against a rated team.

The following teams currently have a rating in the system and could become ranked once they have played 8 matches:

• Bermuda
• Cayman Islands
• India
• Maldives
• Namibia
• St Maarten
• Vanuatu
• St Kitts & Nevis
• Israel
• Tonga

The INF World Rankings were reviewed at the INF Board Meeting in June 2012, with David Kendix, Statistician, who was retained by the INF to develop the ranking methodology in 2007.

Following a detailed discussion the Board was satisfied that we have a robust and reliable rankings system that presents a true reflection of the quality and standing of the performances of international teams and that this system can be used with confidence for qualification purposes.