Pakistan can climb to sixth in official Test table

Pakistan can climb to sixth in the ICC Test Championship table if it can win all three matches of the forthcoming Test series against Bangladesh starting in Karachi on Wednesday 20 August 2003.

Pakistan, currently seventh in the official table with a rating of 90, will improve its rating to 92 if it wins the home series 3-0, taking it one point above sixth placed Sri Lanka and just two behind India.

A 2-0 series win will see Pakistan's rating remain the same while a series draw will see its rating tumble to 83, the same as West Indies.

Bangladesh needs to draw at least one match to prevent its rating slipping to 0. If Bangladesh can restrict Pakistan to a 2-0 victory it will maintain its current rating while a 1-0 (or 2-1) series defeat would see its rating rise to 4.

The ICC Test Championship table correct on 18 August 2003

Position	Team	Rating
1	Australia	129
2	South Africa	119
3	New Zealand	106
4	England	101
5	India	94
6	Sri Lanka	91
7	Pakistan	90
8	West Indies	83
9	Zimbabwe	58
10	Bangladesh	2

Full scenarios for Pakistan v Bangladesh Test series:

	Pakistan	Bangladesh
Current rating	90	2
New rating if:
- Pakistan wins by 3 Tests (3-0)	92	0
- Pakistan wins by 2 Tests (2-0)	90	2
- Pakistan wins by 1 Test (2-1, 1-0)	88	4
- Series drawn (0-0, 1-1)	83	8
- Bangladesh wins by 1 Test (2-1, 1-0)	79	12
- Bangladesh wins by 2 Tests (2-0)	77	14
- Bangladesh wins by 3 Tests (3-0)	75	16

Mike Procter from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees will officiate on the series. Steve Bucknor from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in the first two Tests alongside Tyron Wijewardena from the Emirates International Panel in the first match and Russell Tiffin from the Emirates Elite Panel in the second match. Tiffin will stand with his Emirates Elite Panel colleague Asoka da Silva in the third Test.

The second Test will be the first Test outside his native Sri Lanka in which Wijewardena has stood, his third in total.

The Karachi Test will be the first Test in Pakistan since May 2002. Bangladesh will play three Tests and five one-day internationals in Pakistan, after which South Africa will tour for three Tests and three ODIs.

The impact future results will have on the ratings is available on the official ICC website. For a full explanation of how the ratings are calculated, visit www.icc.cricket.org.

ICC media contacts:

Brendan McClements	Jon Long
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Mobile: + 44 (0) 7786 194974	Mobile: + 44 (0) 7946 545090
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