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Australia constant in changing year
When the Australians conquered their final frontier with a first Test series win in India in 35 years, they became so dominant in the cricket rankings that they would have to start losing the bulk of their matches for anyone to catch up.
Australia gets stronger. The rest are chasing second place.
When the Australians conquered their final frontier with a first Test series win in India in 35 years, they became so dominant in the cricket rankings that they would have to start losing the bulk of their matches for anyone to catch up.
Australia had 130 points in the International Cricket Council championship ahead of its current series against Pakistan and second-place England had 109 after winning 10 of its 11 matches leading into the ongoing five-Test series in South Africa. Such is the jostling, that England needs to win the South African series to hold second place.
Australia, which crushed Pakistan by 491 runs in the first Test in Perth at the weekend, could fall flat until the next Ashes series and still hold the No. 1 spot.
But that's unlikely to happen. The Aussies are unbeaten at home in 12 years and have lost only three series away in seven years. "The side's full of great players ... full of guys who've got a lot of pride in their own and the team's performance," says Ricky Ponting, who replaced Stephen Waugh as Test captain in January. Waugh finished with 32 Test centuries and more than 10,000 Test runs.
The biggest challenge for Australia in 2004 was India on the subcontinent. What had been trumpeted as 'THE' Test series of this generation, ended squarely in Australia's favor in October and India dropped from No. 2 in the ICC rankings to No. 3.
