England have taken over from India as the number one country in the latest one-day internationals rankings published by the International Cricket Council. They top the list for the first time in five years.
It’s been two months since England have played an ODI and, although the Test team disappointed and struggled on their lengthy our this past winter Down Under, they won both 50 overs series against Australia and New Zealand.
England bounced back from failing to win a single Ashes Test against their bitter rivals with a comprehensive 4-1 ODI series victory, then came from behind to beat the Black Caps 3-2. That means it’s six ODI series wins in a row – a major contributory factor to their rankings rise under Trevor Bayliss.
A greater emphasis on attacking play when in to bat can also be credited with playing its part in England being rated the best cricketing country in the 50 overs format. In the last three years, they have scored 350 or more on nine occasions, often leaving the opposition with their work cut out for them just to launch a chase that can get close to running such a target down.
With the ICC Cricket World Cup returning to England and Wales for the first time in 20 years in 2019, the hosts are narrow 3/1 favourites according to the latest cricket odds from bet365 to win that tournament. Captain Eoin Morgan will be determined to avoid a repeat of the pool stage exit of the previous edition of this one-day-format competition in 2015.
Despite their 5-1 ODI series win in South Africa, India slip a place to second just ahead of the country they comprehensively trounced on tour in February. Prior to that, they also won two of their three one-day matches with Sri Lanka and the same against New Zealand.
South Africa are third in the rankings despite that big loss to India ahead of the Black Caps. That leaves Australia, whose cricket team are without disgraced former captain Steve Smith and fellow batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bankcroft for the foreseeable future, down as fifth best in one-day internationals.
It leaves Cricket Australia with another issue to address after the ball-tampering scandal that marred their tour of South Africa earlier in the spring. They have also lost their last two ODI series but are 100/30 second-favourites for Cricket World Cup glory next year.
The bans handed down to Bancroft, Smith and Warner in the wake of that scandal will have expired by the time that tournament comes around, although it remains to be seen if Australia will hand recalls to the national setup to any of them.
India’s neighbours Pakistan complete the one-day rankings top six, ahead of fellow subcontinent sides Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, yet are rated the best side in Twenty20 internationals. The West Indies, who really are in the doldrums, and Afghanistan are the remaining ODI countries making up the top ten.