So who is number 1 right now? (Feb 2010)

[jeevan]

TBH, I'm suggesting that Test cricket in general is too nuanced to be captured in a single table of numbers. I'm not a fan of Test ranking systems really.

As I say, teams are ever-changing things and sometimes a result from 6 months ago can be near-irrelevant, never mind one from 3-4 years ago.

Yes, but by and large even we (many CW posters) have asked for performance over long periods of time to be a factor in deciding if teams are good. We live in a sound byte world (with management mantras like "Everything must be measured" - not making that one up) - and ranking systems are part of this larger trend.

This is not to say that I'd disagree with " Test cricket in general is too nuanced to be captured in a single table of numbers".

 

[Richard]

The point, really, that I'm making is that sometimes results dating back many years are relevant; sometimes, they're not. It all depends on what has changed in the meantime. As I say, there is no sea-change where all teams go from one thing to the other, it's sometimes gradual, sometimes there's seminal points - a few examples detailed below. But never will you get lots of teams experiencing substantial change simultaneously. Hence, for some teams, results from 4 years back might be of relevance; for others, those of 6 months ago might be irrelevant. No mathematical formulae can give a fair account of this.

Australia: 2007/08 - ?; 1989 - 2006/07; 1984 - 1988/89; 1979/80 - 1983/84; 1977/78 - 1979/89; 1974/75 - 1976/77; ? - 1973/74
West Indies: 2007/08 - ?; 2001/02 - 2007; 1997/98 - 2001; 1986/87 - 1997; 1976 - 1986; 1973 - 1975/76; 1968/69 - 1973; 1962 - 1966/67
England: 1990 - ?; 1986 - 1989; 1979/80 - 1985
South Africa: 1992 - 2001; 2001/02 - 2005/06; 2005/06 - ?