England Make it Four in a Row

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17 March 2001

Four Wins to England  England has won their fourth Test series in a row after defeating Sri Lanka in the three Test series that ended on Saturday in Colombo.  However, for Sri Lanka, this series marks their fourth consecutive series they have not won.  With this recent run of success, both the English and Australian supporters are eagerly anticipating the Ashes showdown that starts in July.  England are likely to be at their strongest since the 1986-87 Ashes series when they next face the Australians.   England has increased their rating to 1059 points and retains third place in the Test Cricket Ratings.  They have extended their lead over fourth placed Pakistan to six ratings points.  However, South Africa is in second place and a distant 91 ratings points in front of England.  England has not won four consecutive Test series since 1978-79 when Mike Brearley was captain.  Their rating is now at its highest point since 1986.  It has been a remarkable turn around for English cricket.  After more than a decade in the doldrums, England has earned 47 ratings points over the last 14 months. Only Australia, with 49 points, has earned more points over this period.  England has shown great spirit and determination over this time.  During their last home series, England fought back to win the five Test series after losing the first Test to West Indies.    England repeated this performance in this three-Test series - a feat they have not performed in a three Test series since the Australians toured England in 1888, 113 years ago. The Sri Lankans have now lost three of their last four Test series.  Their last victory was in Pakistan a year ago.  Since that time, Sri Lanka has lost a home series to Pakistan, drawn a home series against South Africa and then lost an away series to South Africa. Sri Lanka remains in eighth place with 973 ratings points and is now 14 ratings points behind seventh placed New Zealand.  Sri Lanka has never been rated above the Kiwis since they entered Test competition in 1982. After winning the first Test, Sri Lanka needed only one draw in the remaining two Tests to gain ratings points in this series.  However, their batsmen have proved to be their weakest link in this series collapsing at inopportune times. While Muralitharan ended the series with 14 wickets, he claimed 8 of these in the first Test.  The English batsmen worked out how to counter the Sri Lankan's most potent weapon and this proved decisive. This series has added further evidence that the Sri Lankan team has reached a plateau in their rating.  They continually improved their rating from late 1999 to mid 2000 when they peaked at 982 points.  However, since that time they have failed to pass this point. The latest test cricket ratings are: 1 Australia (1204); 2 South Africa (1150); 3 England (1059); 4 Pakistan (1053); 5 West Indies (1025); 6 India (1011); 7 New Zealand (988); 8 Sri Lanka (973); 9 Zimbabwe (911); 10 Bangladesh (876p - provisional).

Last Updated: 17 March 2001