Australia regains No. 1 ODI ranking

Tuesday, 25 November 2014 00:50 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

George Bailey’s side had started the series in third position on 114 ratings points and has finished on equal points with India on 117

Four-time world champion Australia has returned to the top of the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings after defeating South Africa 4-1 in the five-match ODI series, which concluded in Sydney on Sunday.

George Bailey’s side had started the series in third position on 114 ratings points and has finished on equal points with India on 117 ratings points. However, when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, Australia is just 0.2 clear of India and five ratings points clear of South Africa, which has dropped one place to third. South Africa had moved ahead of Australia last month, following its 2-0 victory over New Zealand. Australia, who has enjoyed a total of 498 weeks at the top pedestal since the current rankings system was introduced in October 2002, will now participate in a triangular series, also featuring world champion India and England. This series will start in Melbourne on 16 January and will conclude in Perth on 1 February. With just one ranking point separating them, fourth placed Sri Lanka hosts fifth placed England in a seven-ODI series which starts in Colombo on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Bangladesh are currently facing Zimbabwe in a five-match ODI series.

Clarke in first test team, but must prove fitness Reuters: Australia have named Michael Clarke in a 12-man squad for the first test against India starting in Brisbane next week, but the hamstrung captain must prove his fitness in a tour match starting on Friday. Clarke re-injured his problematic hamstring during the one-day international series against South Africa and is in a race to be fit for the first match of the four-test series at the Gabba on Dec. 4. The 33-year-old would need to be fit enough to run by Wednesday to have a chance of playing for a Cricket Australia XI in a two-day tour match at the Adelaide Oval starting on Friday, chief selector Rod Marsh said. “My gut feeling all along was that he’d be fit for the test match,” Marsh told reporters in Adelaide. “But now he’s got to play the two-game day here for him to prove his fitness and I think that’s really important because with his recent history, we can’t have him breaking down in the first innings of a test match per se.” Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, David Warner, Shane Watson.