I have often (during various posts on this forum) referred to the ICC Test Table, as a table no one fking understands, and therefore by extension, what does it matter where a team sits on this table! However, largely because it was a very boring Sunday evening, I thought of figuring out the whole thing.
Having given it a go, I found the table and the mechanism to be very simple (hard to believe, I know). While I maintain its still not a 'true' table as not every team on it plays every other team, but given the restrictions of the Cricket Scheduling it does do a very good job of it, and really does level the playing field for everyone, or atleast comes very close to it.
Those that are familiar with the ICC Table, know that the ICC Table, consists of three columns-
1) Matches
2) Points or Rating Points (they are often used interchangeably)
3) Rating
Please keep the difference between Rating Points (or Points) and Rating always clear. Rating Points (or Points) and Rating are not to be confused with one another. Points or Rating Points, are the sum total of points earned by winning Test Matches or Series. Rating is arrived at by dividing the total Points a team has, by the total number of Matches it has played.
Rating = Points/Matches.
For the purpose of the ICC Table, the team with higher Rating is ranked higher.
For Example, SA = M-29, P-3308, R- 3308/29 = 114.06 = 114
Ind = M-32, P-3535, R- 3535/32 = 110.46 = 110
Decimals are converted into the nearest Whole Number (110.5 = 110, and 110.51 = 111).
If two teams have the same Rating, then the Team with fewer Matches will be rated higher.
For example, both NZ and Eng presently both have Rating of 99.
Rank 5 - NZ - M(36), Rating Points or Points (3578), Rating = 3578/36 = 99.38 = 99
Rank 6 - Eng - M(40), Points (3940), Rating = 3940/40 = 99.5 = 99
Now here even though technically Eng and NZ have the same Rating (99), and even though England's Rating of 99.5 > NZ's Rating of 99.38, it doesn't matter as only Whole Number Ratings are taken into account, and the Whole Number rating for both sides is the same (99). NZ are ranked ahead of England as they have played fewer Matches.
Now lets get to the ICC table. The First thing to understand is the concept of 'Matches' in the ICC Table.
Right now the Table covers matches played upto 4 previous years (seasons) upto May. What does this mean? Simply put, that if you (say) looked at the Table right now, it consists of games played in the present season, and the three previous seasons.
That is to say the table right now (Jan 2016) the table takes into account all games played during the period Apr, 2012 to Jan, 2016 (May 2012-Apr 2013, May 2013-Apr 2014, May 2014-Apr 2015, May 2015-Jan 2016). Every year the start of May is seen as a season transition, and an Update takes place. During this update all matches played during the oldest season are removed from being taken into account. Therefore every year in May the Table will change after this Update, despite no new matches having taken place.
So in May 2016, the results of matches during the oldest period, in this case May 2012 - Apr 2013, will be dropped from consideration. This will be replaced gradually with matches that will be played post May 2016. So if one looks at the table in September 2016, it will feature matches during the period May 2013 - September 2016 (May 2013-Apr 2014, May 2014-Apr 2015, May 2015-Apr 2016, May 2016-Sep 2016).
Naturally if a team had a poor run during the period that is no longer considered for the Table, it will benefit from the Update. While this may seem unfair, but there are enough checks in place, to ensure that an update in May doesn't overwhelmingly affect things, and more weightage is given to the present and the season immediately previous. I will get into what these checks are later.
Now let's look at how a present day series result affects the ICC Table.
ICC considers all test series with two tests or more as eligible for consideration. Now in awarding series points, the following Universal points system is applied for both participant teams -
1) 1 point to the winning team for every test win
2) 0.5 points to both teams for every test draw
3) 1 point extra to the team winning the series
4) 0.5 points extra to both teams if series is a draw.
Now lets put this into practise. Lets take the Aus vs WI series presently going on. Now Australia are in all probability going to win the series 3-0. So how many points do Australia get -
1 point for every test win, so for three test wins = 3x1 Points + 1 extra point for winning the series = 4 Points.
How many points would WI get = 0 (Not winning or drawing the series, and also no points as no test won or drawn).
Now how are the 4 series Points that Australia won from this test, going to translate onto the ICC Ranking Table? How many Rating Points is 4 Series Points? How do you convert Series Points into Rating Points?
Here is how (and this is the only calculation you will have to do) -
Method 1) If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is less than 40 points, then the ratings points for each team equals -
Method 2A) If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the stronger team equals:
Method 2B) If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is more than or equal to 40 points, then the ratings points for the weaker team equals:
This seems complicated, but its really not. The first thing we need to see is whether the difference between the two team's Rating is more than 40 or equal or less than 40.
A look at ICC Table will give us this info. Aus Rating - 109, WI Rating 76, so difference in Rating 33. Now this difference is Less than 40, so to covert the 4 points Australia won in the Series for use in the ICC Table, we will use the aforementioned Method 1.
If the difference was more than 40, and say WI's rating was not 76, but 66, and the series finished 3-0 to Australia, then not much would have changed. Australia would still have had 4 series points and WI would have had 0. The only difference is that the 4 series points of Australia would have been converted into Rating Points using Method 2A (Australia being the stronger team, as in has higher rating), and WI's series points would have been converted into Rating Points using Method 2B.
This is all that needs to be understood here.
Now since both teams are within 40 points of each other, let us Use Method 1 to convert Australia's Series Points into Rating Points.
Now let's remember, Australia's Rating before the series was 109, while WI's was 76. (A simple look at the ICC Test Table will give us this info).
So what will Australia's new rating be -
Team's Own (Australia's) Series Points = 4
Opponent's (WI) Rating = 76
Opponent's (WI) Series Points = 0
Opponent's (WI) Rating = 76
Putting these numbers in the formula we get -
= [4 x 126] + [0 x 26]
= 504 + 0
= 504
Thus Australia will earn 504 Rating Points from this series (IF IT FINISHES 3-0 TO AUSTRALIA).
Now how will thus affect the Table -
Australia's Pre Series ICC Table Stats = M-36, Points- 3922, Rating - 109
Take the old points and add the Rating Points earned in this series = 3922 + 504 = 4426
Now add the Matches in the series to Update the Matches played, but before you do, keep one thing in mind. Here even though the series was 3 games, the no. of matches will be increased by 4. This is true for all series. After every series, the no. of Matches increased on the ICC Table is always one more than what was played in the Series you are updating. If the series had 5 matches the team's matches on the ICC Table will increase by 6. Always keep take into account. Its true for all teams and all series.
So the Update for Matches for Australia = 36+4 (One more than the actual matches played) = 40.
So the Update Matches = 40, Updated Points = 4426, Updated Rating = 4426/40 = 110.65 = 111.
Thus when the table is updated by the ICC after the series completes, If Australia win 3-0, Australia will jump two rating points to 111, and move ahead of India into second on the points table, who have a Rating of 110. Depending on the Eng-SA series this may be enough to even move Aus top of the table.
Let's see how losing 3-0 will affect the WI Rating. Again since the Rating difference for both teams was less than 40, we will use Method A. WI new rating if they lose the series 3-0 to Australia -
Teams's Own (WI's) Series Points = 0
Opponent's (Aus') Rating = 109
Opponent's (Aus') Series Points = 4
Opponent's (Aus') Rating = 76
Putting these numbers in the formula we get -
= [0 x 159] + [4 x 59]
= 0 + 236
= 236
So WI will have earned 236 Points from the Series.
So let's Update WI stats (assuming they lose 3-0)
WI Stats on ICC Table Pre-Series = M-29, Points - 2218, Rating - 76
After Updating = M - 33 (29 + 4) (Increase by 4, one more than the total tests in the series, always keep this in account when updating), Points = 2218 + 236 = 2454.
So New Rating = 2454/33 = 74.36 = 74.
Thus if WI take a 3-0 beating at the hands of Australia, WI's rating will drop by 2 to 74.
I believe this makes the ICC Table much simpler and clearer for everyone. You can now input data and see for yourself how a series ending by a particular scoreline will affect the ICC table.
There is just one last thing I need to explain. That is with regard to the concept of Matches. As I said earlier, the matches from the Present and 3 Previous seasons are taking into account for the table. This is just half the picture.
Lets get to the other half - Matches played and points earned in the two earliest years are cut by half.
Okay what does this mean? We know that the table takes into account games played in the present season, and the three previous seasons. Now this 4 season period is split into two groups. Matches played in the two latest seasons and points earned from them (lets call this Period A), and Matches played in the two oldest seasons and points earned from them (lets call this Period B).
For example in the present table (Jan 2016), the two latest seasons are May 2015-Jan 2016 and May 2014-Apr 2015 (Period A), and the two oldest seasons are May 2013-Apr 2014 and May 2012-Apr 2013 (Period B).
Now why this division into two different periods? This is because while all Matches and all Points from Period A are considered for the present Rankings, only half of the Matches and the Points earned from Period B are considered for the present Ranking. This concept will become very clear after the following example.
Suppose in Period A, a Team played 15 Matches and from them collected 1800 Points, while in Period B, the same Team played 12 Matches and from them collected 1200 points.
Now you would think that on the table this would be combined on the table. So from 27 (15+12) Matches the team would have 3000 (1800+1200) Points. Therefore the teams Rating would be 3000/27 = 111.11 = 111.
However that is not done. To ensure that recent performance have more weightage in the rankings, only half the Matches and Points from Period B, are considered.
So in this the Teams Rating will be determined as -
Period A = M - 15, Points - 1800
Half of Period B = Half of (M - 12, Points - 1200) = M - 6, Points 600.
So the for this team, the Table will look like
Period A + Half of Period B - M (15 + 6) = 21, Points (1800+600) = 2400
So the Rating for this Team will be 2400/21 = 114.28 = 114.
However this is only to give you a complete understanding of the ICC Table and now you have it.
In updating the table with results from ongoing or just finished series', you don't have to worry about Period A, and Period B, and half Period B or any of it. All this is already done on the ICC Table, you merely have to take it forward from there on, and simply update the recent series results on the table, to get new Ratings.
The method to do so has been explained earlier, and just use the three formulas (Method 1, or Method 2A or 2B) given, depending on whether the difference between the teams involved is more than 40 Rating or not.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Having given it a go, I found the table and the mechanism to be very simple (hard to believe, I know). While I maintain its still not a 'true' table as not every team on it plays every other team, but given the restrictions of the Cricket Scheduling it does do a very good job of it, and really does level the playing field for everyone, or atleast comes very close to it.
Those that are familiar with the ICC Table, know that the ICC Table, consists of three columns-
1) Matches
2) Points or Rating Points (they are often used interchangeably)
3) Rating
Please keep the difference between Rating Points (or Points) and Rating always clear. Rating Points (or Points) and Rating are not to be confused with one another. Points or Rating Points, are the sum total of points earned by winning Test Matches or Series. Rating is arrived at by dividing the total Points a team has, by the total number of Matches it has played.
Rating = Points/Matches.
For the purpose of the ICC Table, the team with higher Rating is ranked higher.
For Example, SA = M-29, P-3308, R- 3308/29 = 114.06 = 114
Ind = M-32, P-3535, R- 3535/32 = 110.46 = 110
Decimals are converted into the nearest Whole Number (110.5 = 110, and 110.51 = 111).
If two teams have the same Rating, then the Team with fewer Matches will be rated higher.
For example, both NZ and Eng presently both have Rating of 99.
Rank 5 - NZ - M(36), Rating Points or Points (3578), Rating = 3578/36 = 99.38 = 99
Rank 6 - Eng - M(40), Points (3940), Rating = 3940/40 = 99.5 = 99
Now here even though technically Eng and NZ have the same Rating (99), and even though England's Rating of 99.5 > NZ's Rating of 99.38, it doesn't matter as only Whole Number Ratings are taken into account, and the Whole Number rating for both sides is the same (99). NZ are ranked ahead of England as they have played fewer Matches.
Now lets get to the ICC table. The First thing to understand is the concept of 'Matches' in the ICC Table.
Right now the Table covers matches played upto 4 previous years (seasons) upto May. What does this mean? Simply put, that if you (say) looked at the Table right now, it consists of games played in the present season, and the three previous seasons.
That is to say the table right now (Jan 2016) the table takes into account all games played during the period Apr, 2012 to Jan, 2016 (May 2012-Apr 2013, May 2013-Apr 2014, May 2014-Apr 2015, May 2015-Jan 2016). Every year the start of May is seen as a season transition, and an Update takes place. During this update all matches played during the oldest season are removed from being taken into account. Therefore every year in May the Table will change after this Update, despite no new matches having taken place.
So in May 2016, the results of matches during the oldest period, in this case May 2012 - Apr 2013, will be dropped from consideration. This will be replaced gradually with matches that will be played post May 2016. So if one looks at the table in September 2016, it will feature matches during the period May 2013 - September 2016 (May 2013-Apr 2014, May 2014-Apr 2015, May 2015-Apr 2016, May 2016-Sep 2016).
Naturally if a team had a poor run during the period that is no longer considered for the Table, it will benefit from the Update. While this may seem unfair, but there are enough checks in place, to ensure that an update in May doesn't overwhelmingly affect things, and more weightage is given to the present and the season immediately previous. I will get into what these checks are later.
Now let's look at how a present day series result affects the ICC Table.
ICC considers all test series with two tests or more as eligible for consideration. Now in awarding series points, the following Universal points system is applied for both participant teams -
1) 1 point to the winning team for every test win
2) 0.5 points to both teams for every test draw
3) 1 point extra to the team winning the series
4) 0.5 points extra to both teams if series is a draw.
Now lets put this into practise. Lets take the Aus vs WI series presently going on. Now Australia are in all probability going to win the series 3-0. So how many points do Australia get -
1 point for every test win, so for three test wins = 3x1 Points + 1 extra point for winning the series = 4 Points.
How many points would WI get = 0 (Not winning or drawing the series, and also no points as no test won or drawn).
Now how are the 4 series Points that Australia won from this test, going to translate onto the ICC Ranking Table? How many Rating Points is 4 Series Points? How do you convert Series Points into Rating Points?
Here is how (and this is the only calculation you will have to do) -
Method 1) If the gap between the ratings of the two teams at the commencement of the series is less than 40 points, then the ratings points for each team equals -
- [(The team's own series points) x (50 + the opponent's rating)] + [(The opponent's series points) x (the opponent's rating - 50)]
- [(The team's own series points) x (10 + the team's own rating)] + [(The opponent's series points) x (the team's own rating - 90)]
- [(The team's own series points) x (90 + the team's own rating)] +[(The opponent's series points) x (10 points LESS than the team's own rating)]
This seems complicated, but its really not. The first thing we need to see is whether the difference between the two team's Rating is more than 40 or equal or less than 40.
A look at ICC Table will give us this info. Aus Rating - 109, WI Rating 76, so difference in Rating 33. Now this difference is Less than 40, so to covert the 4 points Australia won in the Series for use in the ICC Table, we will use the aforementioned Method 1.
If the difference was more than 40, and say WI's rating was not 76, but 66, and the series finished 3-0 to Australia, then not much would have changed. Australia would still have had 4 series points and WI would have had 0. The only difference is that the 4 series points of Australia would have been converted into Rating Points using Method 2A (Australia being the stronger team, as in has higher rating), and WI's series points would have been converted into Rating Points using Method 2B.
This is all that needs to be understood here.
Now since both teams are within 40 points of each other, let us Use Method 1 to convert Australia's Series Points into Rating Points.
Now let's remember, Australia's Rating before the series was 109, while WI's was 76. (A simple look at the ICC Test Table will give us this info).
So what will Australia's new rating be -
- [(The team's own series points) x (50 + the opponent's rating)] + [(The opponent's series points) x (the opponent's rating - 50)]
Opponent's (WI) Rating = 76
Opponent's (WI) Series Points = 0
Opponent's (WI) Rating = 76
Putting these numbers in the formula we get -
- [(4) x (50 + 76)] + [(0) x (76 - 50)]
= 504 + 0
= 504
Thus Australia will earn 504 Rating Points from this series (IF IT FINISHES 3-0 TO AUSTRALIA).
Now how will thus affect the Table -
Australia's Pre Series ICC Table Stats = M-36, Points- 3922, Rating - 109
Take the old points and add the Rating Points earned in this series = 3922 + 504 = 4426
Now add the Matches in the series to Update the Matches played, but before you do, keep one thing in mind. Here even though the series was 3 games, the no. of matches will be increased by 4. This is true for all series. After every series, the no. of Matches increased on the ICC Table is always one more than what was played in the Series you are updating. If the series had 5 matches the team's matches on the ICC Table will increase by 6. Always keep take into account. Its true for all teams and all series.
So the Update for Matches for Australia = 36+4 (One more than the actual matches played) = 40.
So the Update Matches = 40, Updated Points = 4426, Updated Rating = 4426/40 = 110.65 = 111.
Thus when the table is updated by the ICC after the series completes, If Australia win 3-0, Australia will jump two rating points to 111, and move ahead of India into second on the points table, who have a Rating of 110. Depending on the Eng-SA series this may be enough to even move Aus top of the table.
Let's see how losing 3-0 will affect the WI Rating. Again since the Rating difference for both teams was less than 40, we will use Method A. WI new rating if they lose the series 3-0 to Australia -
- [(The team's own series points) x (50 + the opponent's rating)] + [(The opponent's series points) x (the opponent's rating - 50)]
Opponent's (Aus') Rating = 109
Opponent's (Aus') Series Points = 4
Opponent's (Aus') Rating = 76
Putting these numbers in the formula we get -
- [(0) x (50 +109)] + [(4) x (109- 50)]
= 0 + 236
= 236
So WI will have earned 236 Points from the Series.
So let's Update WI stats (assuming they lose 3-0)
WI Stats on ICC Table Pre-Series = M-29, Points - 2218, Rating - 76
After Updating = M - 33 (29 + 4) (Increase by 4, one more than the total tests in the series, always keep this in account when updating), Points = 2218 + 236 = 2454.
So New Rating = 2454/33 = 74.36 = 74.
Thus if WI take a 3-0 beating at the hands of Australia, WI's rating will drop by 2 to 74.
I believe this makes the ICC Table much simpler and clearer for everyone. You can now input data and see for yourself how a series ending by a particular scoreline will affect the ICC table.
There is just one last thing I need to explain. That is with regard to the concept of Matches. As I said earlier, the matches from the Present and 3 Previous seasons are taking into account for the table. This is just half the picture.
Lets get to the other half - Matches played and points earned in the two earliest years are cut by half.
Okay what does this mean? We know that the table takes into account games played in the present season, and the three previous seasons. Now this 4 season period is split into two groups. Matches played in the two latest seasons and points earned from them (lets call this Period A), and Matches played in the two oldest seasons and points earned from them (lets call this Period B).
For example in the present table (Jan 2016), the two latest seasons are May 2015-Jan 2016 and May 2014-Apr 2015 (Period A), and the two oldest seasons are May 2013-Apr 2014 and May 2012-Apr 2013 (Period B).
Now why this division into two different periods? This is because while all Matches and all Points from Period A are considered for the present Rankings, only half of the Matches and the Points earned from Period B are considered for the present Ranking. This concept will become very clear after the following example.
Suppose in Period A, a Team played 15 Matches and from them collected 1800 Points, while in Period B, the same Team played 12 Matches and from them collected 1200 points.
Now you would think that on the table this would be combined on the table. So from 27 (15+12) Matches the team would have 3000 (1800+1200) Points. Therefore the teams Rating would be 3000/27 = 111.11 = 111.
However that is not done. To ensure that recent performance have more weightage in the rankings, only half the Matches and Points from Period B, are considered.
So in this the Teams Rating will be determined as -
Period A = M - 15, Points - 1800
Half of Period B = Half of (M - 12, Points - 1200) = M - 6, Points 600.
So the for this team, the Table will look like
Period A + Half of Period B - M (15 + 6) = 21, Points (1800+600) = 2400
So the Rating for this Team will be 2400/21 = 114.28 = 114.
However this is only to give you a complete understanding of the ICC Table and now you have it.
In updating the table with results from ongoing or just finished series', you don't have to worry about Period A, and Period B, and half Period B or any of it. All this is already done on the ICC Table, you merely have to take it forward from there on, and simply update the recent series results on the table, to get new Ratings.
The method to do so has been explained earlier, and just use the three formulas (Method 1, or Method 2A or 2B) given, depending on whether the difference between the teams involved is more than 40 Rating or not.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
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