Cricket: Official player rankings launched by ICC

NEW DELHI - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the introduction of official ratings for players.

The ICC will take over the widely accepted unofficial ratings run by Pricewaterhouse Cooper since 1987.

"From today the ICC rankings will be the official guide to the relative merits of the 10 test playing nations," chief executive Malcolm Speed told reporters.

"The ICC will build on the same formula and methodology used by PwC for the last 18 years for the player rankings," he said.

Rankings will be available for batsmen, bowlers and all rounders in tests and one-dayers.

They will run alongside the ICC ratings for test and one-day teams. The ICC test championship was launched in May 2001 and the one-day championship started in October 2002.

- REUTERS