The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent its congratulations to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as their men’s team prepares for their 1000th Test match, which begins at Edgbaston in Birmingham against India on Wednesday, 1 August.
Out of the 999 men’s Tests to date since their debut Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877, England have won 357 Tests and lost 297 Tests with 345 ending in draws. At the Edgbaston alone, the venue of the 1000th Test, England have played 50 Tests to date since their first Test in May 1902 against Australia, winning 27, losing eight with 15 ending in draws.
ICC Chairman Mr Shashank Manohar said: “On behalf of the cricket family, I want to congratulate England on their 1000th men’s Test match, the first country to reach this milestone.
“I wish England all the best in this historic match and may it continue to produce players and performances that inspire the following of Test cricket, the oldest and most demanding format of the game.”
To commemorate the occasion, Jeff Crowe, former New Zealand captain and member of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, on behalf of the ICC, will present a silver plaque to England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Mr Colin Graves before the start of the Test.
England have dominated India since their first Test in June 1932, winning 43 and losing 25 out of a total of 117 Tests. On home turf, England have won 30 Tests and India have emerged winners on six occasions with 21 Tests ending in draws.
Edgbaston has hosted six Tests between the two sides, with England leading 5-0 on a head-to-head.
These statistics will give England further impetus to their ambitions of improving their current ranking of fifth on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings. If England makes a 5-0 sweep, then they will jump to second on the table with a 10-point rise to 107 points, reducing the pre-series gap with top-ranked India from 28 points to just five points.
In contrast, if India can display their strength and prowess which has made them the highest-ranked side in the world, then they will further strength their grip on the top spot. If India wins 5-0, then they will rise to 129 points and England will drop to sixth place on 94 points.
The followers of the most challenging format of the game will also be keeping a close watch on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings as India captain Virat Kohli will look to snatch the coveted number-one position from Australia’s Steve Smith, while England fast bowler James Anderson will aim to defend his number-one ranking.
Kohli trails Smith by 26 points and will have to produce a string of strong performances to leapfrog the Australian, while Anderson will also need wickets to either defend or consolidate his top spot.
Apart from Kohli and Anderson, both the sides comprise players who feature prominently in the Test player rankings who, during the course of the series, will be hoping to make upward movements. This makes the upcoming series a perfect recipe for entertaining, interesting and enthralling red ball cricket.
Amongst the batsmen, both England and India have five each inside the top-50. From England, Joe Root is ranked third (48 points behind Kohli), Alistair Cook 13th, Jonny Bairstow 16th, Ben Stokes 28th and Moeen Ali 43rd, while India’s Cheteshwar Pujara is sixth, followed by Lokesh Rahul 18th, Ajinkya Rahane 19th, Murali Vijay 23rd and Shikhar Dhawan 24th.
Amongst the bowlers and besides Anderson, Stuart Broad is the other bowler who features inside the top-30 in 12th position.
In contrast, India boasts six bowlers inside the top-30, including two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja (third) and Ravichandran Ashwin (fifth), and four fast bowlers, namely Mohammed Shami (17th), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (25th), Ishant Sharma (26th) and Umesh Yadav (28th).
India’s left-arm spinner Kuldep Yadav, who caused problems for the England batsmen in the ODI series, is ranked outside the top-50 in 56th position.
The Test player rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of the Edgbaston Test, while the Test team rankings will be updated following the conclusion of the fifth and final Test at The Oval.
Series schedule
1-5 August – 1st Test, Edgbaston
9-13 August – 2nd Test, Lord’s
18-22 August – 3rd Test, Trent Bridge
30 August – 3 September – 4th Test, Hampshire Bowl
7-11 September – 5th Test, The Oval
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 31 July, before the start of England v India Test series):
RANK TEAM POINTS
1. India 125
2. South Africa 106
3. Australia 106
4. New Zealand 102
5. England 97
6. Sri Lanka 97
7. Pakistan 88
8. West Indies 77
9. Bangladesh 67
10. Zimbabwe 02
11. Afghanistan 00
12. Ireland 00
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings (as on 31 July, before the start of Edgbaston Test):
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Steve Smith Aus 929 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
2 Virat Kohli Ind 903 53.40 912 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
3 Joe Root Eng 855 52.28 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 Kane Williamson NZ 847 50.35 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 David Warner Aus 820 48.20 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 C. Pujara Ind 799 50.34 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7 D. Karunaratne SL 754! 37.28 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 D. Chandimal SL 733 44.96 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
9 Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
10 Aiden Markram SA 703* 47.27 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
Selected rankings
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
13 Alastair Cook Eng 686 45.65 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
16 Jonny Bairstow Eng 670 38.40 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
18 Lokesh Rahul Ind 661* 40.86 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
19 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 645 43.17 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
23 Murali Vijay Ind 624 40.69 747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015
24 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 618 43.93 627 v SL at Kolkata 2017
28 Ben Stokes Eng 601 34.85 664 v Win at Lord's 2017
43 Moeen Ali Eng 537 32.40 655 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
57 Dawid Malan Eng 465* 29.00 505 v Aus at Sydney 2018
61 Jos Buttler Eng 456* 35.00 494 v NZ at Headingley 2015
62 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 455 29.17 491 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
67 Hardik Pandya Ind 448* 36.80 512 v SA at Cape Town 2018
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 James Anderson Eng 892 27.23 896 v Win at Lord's 2017
2 Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
3 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 866 23.11 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4 Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 R. Ashwin Ind 811 25.34 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
6 Pat Cummins Aus 800*! 23.81 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
7 Trent Boult NZ 795 27.84 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
8 Rangana Herath SL 791 27.95 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
9 Neil Wagner NZ 765 28.26 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
10 Josh Hazlewood Aus 759 26.84 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
Selected rankings
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
12 Stuart Broad Eng 742 28.89 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
17 M. Shami Ind 696 28.90 703 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
25 B. Kumar Ind 620* 26.09 626 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
26 Ishant Sharma Ind 582 35.52 671 v Win at Dominica 2011
28 Umesh Yadav Ind 577 34.94 578 v SL at Nagpur 2017
31 Ben Stokes Eng 545* 33.83 596 v Win at Lord's 2017
34 Chris Woakes Eng 509* 34.45 609 v Pak at The Oval 2016
36 Moeen Ali Eng 492 40.68 633 v Win at Edgbaston 2017
43 Jasprit Bumrah Ind 369* 25.21 373 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
56 Kuldeep Yadav Ind 273* 20.77 293 v SL at Pallekele 2017
62 Mark Wood Eng 243* 41.73 369 v Pak at Dubai 2015
90 Hardik Pandya Ind 120* 40.14 214 v SA at Cape Town 2018
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 420 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 394 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 Vernon Philander SA 370 379 v SL at Galle 2018
4 R. Ashwin Ind 365 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
5 Jason Holder Win 354 /* 355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating
