England slide to sixth in Test world rankings, lowest points total since 1995
- Planet Sport writer
- 4 May 2022
England have just one win in 17 Test matches and it has been reflected in the ICC's annual update.
It is no secret that Ben Stokes has his work cut out as new England Test captain, and the world rankings have reflected that.
England have swapped places with Pakistan, sliding from one position from fifth to sixth.
But the rankings slide is not the biggest surprise given that they lost 4-0 to Australia in the Ashes and then tasted a 1-0 defeat to the West Indies earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Australia - who have appointed Andrew McDonald as Justin Langer's replacement - have moved from one point to nine ahead of India in second place while inaugural Test champions New Zealand are third and South Africa fourth.
By slipping to an overall rating of just 88 points, England are now at their worst rating since 1995 under Ray Illingworth.
Ahead of June's two-match Test series against New Zealand, Stokes admitted his team's recent record was simply not good enough.
"I think if we're completely realistic, winning one game in 17 is nowhere near good enough," he said.
"Everyone needs to be realistic with that. What we can do is say 'there's only one way to go from here, which is up'.
"I can't expect it to just click and all of a sudden we're number one in a year's time.
"That would be fantastic, but I'm very excited about the role I've got to play in hopefully making the England Test team great again, it's a big goal of mine and I'm really looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, in the ODI and T20 rankings, England are ranked second, behind New Zealand and India, respectively.
