Sri Lanka's feat of squaring the three-match Test series with England 1-1 have seen them move up one place in the LG ICC Test Championship table. Mahela Jayawardene's side gained two rating points as a result of the drawn series, secured by a 134-run win at Trent Bridge on Monday that cancelled out England's six-wicket win at Edgbaston.
The series stalemate, which also included a drawn first match at Lord's, has lifted Sri Lanka to 97 points and level with New Zealand, but they moved above the Black Caps into sixth place after the figures were re-calculated to three decimal places. Sri Lanka are now just four rating points behind fifth-placed South Africa.
For England the news is not so pleasing. It was the third series in a row since last summer's Ashes success against Australia as it failed to win and that failure has cost the side one rating point, seeing it slip to 112.
That means the gap between England and Australia, which tops the LG ICC Test
Championship table, has been extended to 19 points and it also means the margin between England and third-placed India is now just one rating point, said a release of ICC sent through email.
And while England now have a run of ODIs ahead of a Test series against Pakistan that starts in July, India can maintain the pressure on the side immediately above it. That is if Rahul Dravid's line-up can string together a succession of victories in the ongoing four-Test clash with the West Indies.
The latest LG ICC Player Rankings will be released after the conclusion of the ongoing West Indies-India Test match in Antigua.
LG ICC TEST CHAMPIONSHIP (AS OF 5 JUNE 2006):
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Rank/Team Rating
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1 Australia 131
2 England 112
3 India 111
4 Pakistan 109
5 South Africa 101
6 Sri Lanka 97
7 New Zealand 97
8 West Indies 72
9 Zimbabwe 27
10 Bangladesh 3
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