Australia fall to fourth in ODI rankings

Four-time former world champions Australia have lost their No.1 position on the ICC ODI rankings for the first time since September 2009 following an annual update which took place on Wednesday.

Dubai: Four-time former world champion Australia has lost its No.1 position on the ICC ODI rankings for the first time since September 2009 following an annual update which took place on Wednesday.

Australia has fallen to fourth spot which is its lowest ranking since the ODI table was launched in 2002 as its outstanding record of 30 wins and eight defeats from 40 ODIs in 2009-10 does not reflect any longer after the update. Following this year``s annual update, England has become the number-one ranked ODI side, leading second-placed South Africa by one-sixth of a rating point, while world champion India is third - just one ratings point behind England. This is the first time England has topped the ODI Championship table since it was launched in 2002. It is also the first time England can claim to be the top ODI team since January 1996, after the rankings are applied retrospectively. Meanwhile, South Africa has replaced England as the number-one ranked side on the Reliance ICC T20I Championship table after the annual update. However, the number-one T20 ranking, like in the current Test and forthcoming ODI series, will be up for grabs when the reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion England and South Africa go head to head in a three-T20I series starting on 8 September in Chester-le-Street. Australia has also slipped from sixth position to ninth, as its excellent results in early 2010 have now been removed, while West Indies has moved up from eighth to fifth after benefiting from the exclusion of its results from early 2010. ICC ODI rankings Rank Team Rating (+/-) 1 England 121 (+3) 2 South Africa 121 (+3) 3 India 120 (+1) 4 Australia 112 (-7) 5 Sri Lanka 108 (-2) 6 Pakistan 105 (+2) 7 West Indies 94 (+6) 8 New Zealand 74 (-8) 9 Bangladesh 71 (+4) 10 Zimbabwe 50 (+4) Reliance ICC T20 rankings Rank Team Rating (+/-) 1 South Africa 130 (+8) 2 England 129 (-1) 3 Sri Lanka 119 (+9) 4 India 111 (+1) 5 West Indies 111 (+8) 6 Pakistan 109 (+1) 7 New Zealand 101 (-4) 8 Bangladesh 95 (+5) 9 Australia 93 (-14) 10 Ireland 88 (+5)