Cricket rankings determine the current standings of not only a player, but also of the entire team. Fans are always on the look out for sources through which they can find out exactly how their favorites are doing in comparison to their contemporaries. Sure, they can know exactly how their favorite batsman, bowler or fielder has been doing in a particular tournament, but if they want to know where their favorite players stand among their contemporaries, they need to find out all they can about cricket rankings. Well, this is the source to know how players from different countries of the world are doing on the cricket field.

The rankings that are most widely followed and relied by several people are the ones given by ICC or the International Cricket Council. Cricket rankings are provided strictly on the basis of merit, though on some occasions certain players can hold on to their position based on their previous form and performance. However, this is not always the case and also this can not last for a long duration. Players like Sachin Tendulkar who were absent from the international cricket scene for a long time due to injuries, maintained their position in the rankings based on his past performances.

ICC provides rankings to batsman, bowlers and all-rounders. There is no time frame based on which rankings are updated. However after the end of every major one day or test tournament, rankings are updated. This is based on the performance of the players during the course of the tournament. That is not all; teams are also ranked based on their performance both in one day matches as well as test matches.

Teams rankings are given out based on several criteria. Suppose, a team defeats a strong team like Australia, then the rating points will be higher and consequently cricket rankings will also be high. However if a team defeats a lowly ranked team like Bangladesh, rankings and points will not see a dramatic rise. So now you know why your team has not been highly ranked despite winning a series. The simple reason is that they have not played and won matches against tough oppositions.

The ICC comes up with 100 rankings, but generally fans and players are interested in knowing just who are present at the top ten of the rankings. The latest rankings have Australia at the top for both the one day rankings as well as the test team rankings. They have been at the top for a long time and it really looks like that they are becoming invincible. Many people say that they are not bothered about the rankings; in fact the present Indian Captain has once famously said that he does not look at the ICC rankings. Nonetheless, cricket rankings are followed by one and all. Especially due to the forthcoming ICC World Cup Cricket, fans are developing more interest towards this.