A report in The Times of India says that England has overthrown Australia from the ICC ODI ranking table, following an annual update on Wednesday.
Australia have fallen to fourth spot their lowest since ODI table was launched in 2002 as its outstanding record of 30 wins and eight defeats from 40 ODIs in 2009-10 does not reflect any longer after the update.
England lead second-placed South Africa by one-sixth of a rating point, while world champion India are third - just one ratings point behind England. Australia trail England by nine ratings points.
This is the first time that England has become the number one ODI sides since the inception of the ranking table.
Meanwhile, in the T20 rankings South Africa have replaced the reigning World T20 Champion England at the top of the table.
Currently, both the sides are separated by one ratings point.
Australia have slipped from sixth position to ninth, as its excellent results in early 2010 have now been removed, while West Indies has moved up from eighth to fifth after benefiting from the exclusion of its results from early 2010.
Meanwhile a report in The Hindu says that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has accepted the title sponsorship offer of the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League Twenty20 tournament. The $15.4 billion company saw a phenomenal jump — from sale of 500 vehicles in fiscal 2010 to 11,000 last year in the Sri Lankan market — to sponsor a cricket tournament in Sri Lanka in a big way.
“We were offered the title sponsorship. It is a multi-year sponsorship agreement and the event will be known as the Mahindra Sri Lanka Premier League. Sri Lanka is a strategic market for the Mahindra Group which is already a household name in the country and what better medium than cricket to connect and engage with audiences as it is the most followed sport in the sub-continent with a fan base of approximately 1.5 billion across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh,’’ Shriprakash Shukla, President (Group Strategy- Mahindra Rise) was quoted in the report