Australia aims for top Test spot
Dubai: Australia has a chance to reclaim the top spot in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings when it faces host Pakistan in the two-Test series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts on Wednesday in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here. A two-nil series win over Pakistan will lift Michael Clarke’s charges to the top of the summit - one point clear of South Africa, which currently holds top spot. A one-nil series victory will move Australia to join South Africa level on 124 points, but the Proteas will continue to hold the slenderest of 0.24 of an advantage. In contrast, a one-nil victory for sixth-place Pakistan, which currently lies level on points with India, will move it up two ratings places to fourth, while a 2-0 win will push them even further up the ladder into third place, 12 points behind Australia, which will lose further ground on South Africa. Even a 1-1 draw will see Pakistan edge clear of India, while Australia will slip three points behind the leaders. Australia was most recently the number-one ranked Test side between May and July 2014, before South Africa overtook them. Before then, Australia last held top spot since the new rankings system was introduced in 2002 until August 2009. To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please click here. The Test Ranking Table, unlike the ODI and T20I Rankings tables, is updated after every series. In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Australia will be looking to the fit-again Clarke (seventh) and its top-ranked batsman David Warner (fifth) to lay the platform in its innings. Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq is sitting in 10th position and Younus Khan is 11th with both batsmen separate by just three ratings points and aiming to maintain an upward trajectory. In the Reliance ICC Players Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia currently has three bowlers well-positioned to improve their ratings. In the absence of number-two ranked Ryan Harris, left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson, who is currently ranked in fourth place, has Sri lanka’s Rangana Herath in his sights as he aims to shave the seven-point deficit.
Mahanama reaches 200-ODI landmark
Dubai: Roshan Mahanama became the latest member of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees to reach the 200-mark in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) when he took the field to officiate in the first ODI between New Zealand and South Africa in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. A former captain and member of the Sri lanka squad that won the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996, Mahanama represented his country in 52 Tests and 213 ODIs between 1986 and 1999, in which he scored 2,576 and 5,162 runs, respectively. Following his retirement from international cricket in 1999, the Colombo-born cricketer made the transition to refereeing and marked his debut in the ODI between West Indies and Bangladesh in Kingstown 2004. In the same series, he made his Test debut and to date, he has refereed in 54 Tests.
Pak to throw spin challenge to Aus
Dubai: Pakistan A’s warmup win over Australia has given the senior team a path it hopes will lead to success in the first cricket test starting on Wednesday. Even without spinner Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan’s only world top-10 test bowler, the hosts are expected to rely on spin to gauge how vulnerable the Australians are after they lost the four-day warmup match by 153 runs in Sharjah last week. left-armer Raza Hasan, who took four wickets from 40 overs in the match, could be in line for a debut. He’s in contention for the spin spots with the uncapped Yasir Shah and two-test player Zulfiqur Babar. “It does affect you when you don’t have senior players, but the way the (Pakistan) A team played they showed it’s all about determination,” captain Misbah-ul-Haq said on Tuesday. With Ajmal suspended for an illegal bowling action, Pakistan lost the one-day international series 3-0. But Misbah said his untested spinners carry enough experience of bowling long spells in domestic cricket. “Whoever comes on the international scene he starts inexperienced ... this is how life is,” Misbah said.