Top 5 Test teams across decades (1970-2020)

[Ab Fan]

Below I have made a comparison by listing down the top five teams across each decade and analyze how the teams have fared in last 50 years. The comparison is only for tests.

2010-2019

India
South Africa
England
Australia
New Zealand

6th- Pakistan

2000-2009

Australia
South Africa
India
England
Sri Lanka

6th- Pakistan

1990-1999

Australia
South Africa
Pakistan
Windies
Sri Lanka

6th- India

1980-1990

Windies
Pakistan
New Zealand
Australia
England

6th- India

1970-1980

England
Windies
Australia
India
Pakistan

6th- New Zealand

Overall, only Australia is the team that were in top 5 or rather top 4 in every single decade from 70s onwards.

England went missing in 90s while India went missing in 80s and 90s both.

Pakistan and Windies weren't in top five in past two decades.

New Zealand were present in 80s and 10s while Sri Lanka made it in 90s and in 00s.

Discuss!

 

[HappyWarsFan]

The Indian bias is showing in you. How the hell is Pakistan below NZ for the 2010s? Sure 2017-19 NZ were better, but NZ were an awful team from 2010-14. 2015 and after they've improved but not enough to beat the solid pakistan team that never lost a home series 2010-17 and did well in England and NZ tours during this time.

2010-16 : Pakistan >>> NZ

2017-19: NZ > Pakistan

 

[Heisenberg111]

Good list, but Pakistan in late 70's was a much better side than India. Also in the 90's India are above Sri Lanka.

 

[Heisenberg111]

The Indian bias is showing in you. How the hell is Pakistan below NZ for the 2010s? Sure 2017-19 NZ were better, but NZ were an awful team from 2010-14. 2015 and after they've improved but not enough to beat the solid pakistan team that never lost a home series 2010-17 and did well in England and NZ tours during this time.

2010-16 : Pakistan >>> NZ

2017-19: NZ > Pakistan

Yes, according to W/L ratio Pakistan was in top 5 from 2010-16 and above NZ.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

 

[sweep_shot]

I started watching cricket in 90's. I don't have much idea about cricket from 70's and 80's.

Here's my top 5 list:

Australia
West Indies (80's)
South Africa
India
Pakistan.

 

[Ab Fan]

The Indian bias is showing in you. How the hell is Pakistan below NZ for the 2010s? Sure 2017-19 NZ were better, but NZ were an awful team from 2010-14. 2015 and after they've improved but not enough to beat the solid pakistan team that never lost a home series 2010-17 and did well in England and NZ tours during this time.

2010-16 : Pakistan >>> NZ

2017-19: NZ > Pakistan

Not sure where the Indian bias is coming. In 2010s, New Zealand have a W/L ratio of 1.0 while for Pakistan, it is 0.89.

One on one, New Zealand have fared better than Pakistan in this decade as well.

As for Indian bias, in 90s, India had a W/L ratio of 0.9 while for Sri Lanka it is 0.63. You can see who is there and who is missing in 90s decade.

 

[Ab Fan]

Yes, according to W/L ratio Pakistan was in top 5 from 2010-16 and above NZ.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

But a decade doesn't end up at 2016. Do post the W/L from 2010 to 2019 as well.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Not sure where the Indian bias is coming. In 2010s, New Zealand have a W/L ratio of 1.0 while for Pakistan, it is 0.89.

One on one, New Zealand have fared better than Pakistan in this decade as well.

As for Indian bias, in 90s, India had a W/L ratio of 0.9 while for Sri Lanka it is 0.63. You can see who is there and who is missing in 90s decade.

Look at the other guys stats. Pakistan were clearly better than NZ for a larger part of the decade.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Let's get some experienced posters to help here. Who was the better Test team from 2010-19 span? Pakistan or New Zealand?
[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION]

 

[Heisenberg111]

But a decade doesn't end up at 2016. Do post the W/L from 2010 to 2019 as well.

I know, overall NZ has a better W/L ration than Pakistan in the last decade, but they only overtook Pakistan in the last 3 years, due to the retirements of YK and Misbah.

 

[Heisenberg111]

One thing that came into my mind is that Sri Lanka won in England and South Africa in the last decade. Thats two major overseas wins. They should be rated higher.

 

[Ab Fan]

Good list, but Pakistan in late 70's was a much better side than India. Also in the 90's India are above Sri Lanka.

Comparison has been done taking overall decade into context. If hasn't been done in bits and pieces.

In 90s, I put Sri Lanka ahead of India because Sri Lanka had much better overseas run than India and they also won at home vs McGrath and Warne Australia.

In 70s, Pakistan won 9 in 46 tests while India won 17 in 64 tests. Clearly, India are ahead. Pakistan got better in later part but India were well ahead for most of 70s as seen in overall stats.

In 10s, New Zealand fared better against Pakistan by drawing test series and eventually winning in UAE in comparison to Pakistan only winning early in '11 but losing outside that. New Zealand overall also has better W/L than Pakistan.

In 80s, England and India are a bit close as well.

 

[sweep_shot]

Comparison has been done taking overall decade into context. If hasn't been done in bits and pieces.

In 90s, I put Sri Lanka ahead of India because Sri Lanka had much better overseas run than India and they also won at home vs McGrath and Warne Australia.

In 70s, Pakistan won 9 in 46 tests while India won 17 in 64 tests. Clearly, India are ahead. Pakistan got better in later part but India were well ahead for most of 70s as seen in overall stats.

In 10s, New Zealand fared better against Pakistan by drawing test series and eventually winning in UAE in comparison to Pakistan only winning early in '11 but losing outside that. New Zealand overall also has better W/L than Pakistan.

In 80s, England and India are a bit close as well.

I think we have to consider all 50 years at once (not divide the period into multiple parts). Pakistan are ahead of NZ in that case.

 

[Ab Fan]

I think we have to consider all 50 years at once (not divide the period into multiple parts). Pakistan are ahead of NZ in that case.

Taking 50 years into context, Pakistan are obviously superior to NZ. They were better than New Zealand in 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Only in 10s, NZ were better and even then it's not that huge difference in tests.

Before I got quoted, I didn't even had in my mind that Pakistan were close to NZ possibly because how good NZ have been since 2016. Taylor's late bloomer and the emergence of Wagner and Latham-Watling helped them a lot.

 

[sweep_shot]

Taking 50 years into context, Pakistan are obviously superior to NZ. They were better than New Zealand in 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Only in 10s, NZ were better and even then it's not that huge difference in tests.

Before I got quoted, I didn't even had in my mind that Pakistan were close to NZ possibly because how good NZ have been since 2016. Taylor's late bloomer and the emergence of Wagner and Latham-Watling helped them a lot.

Got it.

West Indies should be nowhere near this list but they had an unbelievable period in the 80's.

 

[Heisenberg111]

Comparison has been done taking overall decade into context. If hasn't been done in bits and pieces.

In 90s, I put Sri Lanka ahead of India because Sri Lanka had much better overseas run than India and they also won at home vs McGrath and Warne Australia.

In 70s, Pakistan won 9 in 46 tests while India won 17 in 64 tests. Clearly, India are ahead. Pakistan got better in later part but India were well ahead for most of 70s as seen in overall stats.

In 10s, New Zealand fared better against Pakistan by drawing test series and eventually winning in UAE in comparison to Pakistan only winning early in '11 but losing outside that. New Zealand overall also has better W/L than Pakistan.

In 80s, England and India are a bit close as well.

What about Sri Lanka in the 10's then? They won in England and South Africa, which no other Asian team managed. Pak only won in NZ, and India only won in OZ.

 

[Ab Fan]

What about Sri Lanka in the 10's then? They won in England and South Africa, which no other Asian team managed. Pak only won in NZ, and India only won in OZ.

Sri Lanka won a 2- test series 1-0 in both the countries but you also have to understand that in their every other tours to South Africa and England they looked completely in all sorts of trouble. They also looked massively mediocre in every NZ tour in the last 6-7 years.

Sri Lanka also lost to a Smith and Warner less Australia I think and India defeated SL in SL pretty much every single team. Pakistan also defeated SL in SL although SL too won in UAE. But you can see why they are nowhere near to be in consideration.

 

[Ab Fan]

Sri Lanka won a 2- test series 1-0 in both the countries but you also have to understand that in their every other tours to South Africa and England they looked completely in all sorts of trouble. They also looked massively mediocre in every NZ tour in the last 6-7 years.

Sri Lanka also lost to a Smith and Warner less Australia I think and India defeated SL in SL pretty much every single team. Pakistan also defeated SL in SL although SL too won in UAE. But you can see why they are nowhere near to be in consideration.

Further, SL also lost at home to pretty much all major teams- India, SA, Aus, Eng, Pak and drawn twice at home to NZ.

 

[Heisenberg111]

Sri Lanka won a 2- test series 1-0 in both the countries

but you also have to understand that in their every other tours to South Africa and England they looked completely in all sorts of trouble. They also looked massively mediocre in every NZ tour in the last 6-7 years.

Sri Lanka also lost to a Smith and Warner less Australia I think and India defeated SL in SL pretty much every single team. Pakistan also defeated SL in SL although SL too won in UAE. But you can see why they are nowhere near to be in consideration.

Sri Lanka whitewashed South Africa in South Africa. South Africa were also whitewashed away in Sri Lanka. Australia were also whitewashed in Sri Lanka, when they were no.1. Sri Lanka also had a pretty good tour of England in 2011, where they lost the 3 match series only 1-0 .

 

[Mamoon]

Let's get some experienced posters to help here. Who was the better Test team from 2010-19 span? Pakistan or New Zealand?

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION]

New Zealand, but not by a massive margin.

They were the more consistent side, avoided harrowing lows and were the best visiting team in the UAE. However, they never managed to become the number 1 ranked team at any point.

Pakistan did achieve the number 1 ranking albeit due to a technically and for a very brief period, and it suffered some embarrassing lows such as losing a Test to one of the worst Zimbabwean sides of all time.

The margin would have been much wider between the two sides if it wasn’t for Pakistan’s number 1 ranking in 2016.

 

[Ab Fan]

Sri Lanka whitewashed South Africa in South Africa. South Africa were also whitewashed away in Sri Lanka. Australia were also whitewashed in Sri Lanka, when they were no.1. Sri Lanka also had a pretty good tour of England in 2011, where they lost the 3 match series only 1-0 .

Oh, my mistake on the first one. I always used to think SL won 1-0 in SA with that Kusal Peters knock.

However, SA defeated Sri Lanka in SL 2014. That one is what I am saying here.

Sri Lanka did whitewashed a few teams but they lost at home to India several times, South Africa, Australia, England and Pakistan. They also couldn't beat NZ once in that decade home or away.

 

[Ab Fan]

New Zealand, but not by a massive margin.

They were the more consistent side, avoided harrowing lows and were the best visiting team in the UAE. However, they never managed to become the number 1 ranked team at any point.

Pakistan did achieve the number 1 ranking albeit due to a technically and for a very brief period, and it suffered some embarrassing lows such as losing a Test to one of the worst Zimbabwean sides of all time.

The margin would have been much wider between the two sides if it wasn’t for Pakistan’s number 1 ranking in 2016.

Pakistan also had that loss to Sri Lanka 0-2. NZ never lost a single series to SL in that decade.

 

[Heisenberg111]

Just checked the away record for the teams in the last decade.
The rankings are
1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. India
4. England
5. Pakistan
6. Sri Lanka
7. New Zealand

So New Zealand drops to 7th and Pakistan jumps upto 5th, if you look at the away record of the teams. So its clear that NZ has dominated at home but has not been that convincing away.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistan also had that loss to Sri Lanka 0-2. NZ never lost a single series to SL in that decade.

It is different. For a team like Pakistan, losing to Sri Lanka at home would be less embarrassing compared to a non-Asian team losing to Sri Lanka at home, since Sri Lanka is more suited to play in UAE/Pakistan conditions.

 

[sweep_shot]

SL is a very mysterious team. They beat SA but also almost lost against Zimbabwe. They are not a reliable team.

I would say if SL play SA in SA now, SA should win.

 

[Ab Fan]

Just checked the away record for the teams in the last decade.
The rankings are
1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. India
4. England
5. Pakistan
6. Sri Lanka
7. New Zealand

So New Zealand drops to 7th and Pakistan jumps upto 5th, if you look at the away record of the teams. So its clear that NZ has dominated at home but has not been that convincing away.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

A little modification is required in that calculation. For Pakistan away record is away record. For other teams, away record is away + neutral as UAE is considered home for Pakistan.

When that calculation will be done, for other teams it will be

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

For Pakistan, it will be what their actual away record is.

 

[Ab Fan]

It is different. For a team like Pakistan, losing to Sri Lanka at home would be less embarrassing compared to a non-Asian team losing to Sri Lanka at home, since Sri Lanka is more suited to play in UAE/Pakistan conditions.

Oops, I meant NZ didn't lose a test series home or away both vs SL across last decade. They played five test series vs them and won three at home and drew two whcih were away.

I agree it's easier for NZ to beat SL in NZ compared to Pak beating SL in UAE but at same time, it's harder for NZ to win or draw in SL compared to Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

 

[Heisenberg111]

A little modification is required in that calculation. For Pakistan away record is away record. For other teams, away record is away + neutral as UAE is considered home for Pakistan.

When that calculation will be done, for other teams it will be

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

For Pakistan, it will be what their actual away record is.

Yeah, good correction, I forgot about that but still Pakistan's away W/L ratio of 0.571 is better than NZ's W/L ratio of 0.50. Sri Lanka also has a W/L ratio of 0.521 better than NZ's but less than that of Pakistan. So the rankings will stay as they are.

 

[Heisenberg111]

Yeah, good correction, I forgot about that but still Pakistan's away W/L ratio of 0.571 is better than NZ's W/L ratio of 0.50. Sri Lanka also has a W/L ratio of 0.521 better than NZ's but less than that of Pakistan. So the rankings will stay as they are.

In fact I just checked England goes below Pakistan too because of their 5 defeats in the UAE. England's away W/L ratio is 0.533 which is less than that of Pakistan's 0.571. Australia also goes below India due to their 3 defeats in the UAE. The rankings are as follows.

1. South Africa (W/L of 1.0)
2. India (W/L of 0.76)
3. Australia (W/L of 0.689)
4. Pakistan (W/L of 0.571)
5.England (W/L of 0.533)
6. Sri Lanka (W/L of 0.521)
7. New Zealand (W/L of 0.50)

 

[Hawkeye]

Let's get some experienced posters to help here. Who was the better Test team from 2010-19 span? Pakistan or New Zealand?

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION]

Till 2016-17 I think we were much stronger and had better results.

Then the whitewash by SL at our home and we started losing Test series at home, that was a really bad period.

The stats below also prove PAK was better:

In fact I just checked England goes below Pakistan too because of their 5 defeats in the UAE. England's away W/L ratio is 0.533 which is less than that of Pakistan's 0.571. Australia also goes below India due to their 3 defeats in the UAE. The rankings are as follows.

1. South Africa (W/L of 1.0)
2. India (W/L of 0.76)
3. Australia (W/L of 0.689)
4. Pakistan (W/L of 0.571)
5.England (W/L of 0.533)
6. Sri Lanka (W/L of 0.521)
7. New Zealand (W/L of 0.50)

Good post.

Though I wouldn't rate AUS at #3, it should be PAK at #3 -- Aus always got decimated in Asia, even in the UAE.

 

[Junaids]

Pretty good OP, but in the 1980’s I would actually say that Australia competed with India to be second bottom just above Sri Lanka.

They were still decent until Lillee, Marsh and Chappell retired after they beat an Imran-less Pakistan 2-0 with 3 draws in 1983-84. But even then, they drew 3 Tests against a Pakistan team without any pace bowlers (Sarfraz was banned too, and 48 years old).

But after that Australia was truly dreadful from 1984 until mid-1989, losing Test series at home to England and New Zealand as well as the West Indies, and they were fortunate to avoid Pakistan too until Imran was 37 while Waqar was on overseas debut.

 

[Buffet]

How the hell is Pakistan below NZ for the 2010s?

 

[Heisenberg111]

View attachment 99647

This is for home and away combined, but Pakistan is ahead of both England and New Zealand, if you only look at the away records of the teams, as I have posted above.

 

[Geil]

The BIG THREE AUS IND ENG will probably be top test teams in coming decades unless and until ICC develops the game equally between all test countries

The big three play the most number of competitive matches/series and develop their game, if these teams are not in the top three then it would probably be the worst performing team of the top 5 simply because of number matches they play,how ideally they schedule their home/away tests

They give themselves the best possible chance of being the top sides so no surprise to see them on top since two decades

Hope to see a decade where atleast top 6 or maybe 8 test teams get equal opportunities on the frequency of series per decade

 

[Buffet]

This is for home and away combined, but Pakistan is ahead of both England and New Zealand, if you only look at the away records of the teams, as I have posted above.

Poster didn't ask about away record in 2010s and thread was about 2010s over all record.

 

[Ab Fan]

This is for home and away combined, but Pakistan is ahead of both England and New Zealand, if you only look at the away records of the teams, as I have posted above.

Pakistan's away record in 2010s cant be taken without going into context.

Their away wins also included wins in Zimbabwe (and one embarrasing loss) and Ireland.

As I said, if you are losing a test to Zimbabwe in 2013, I don't see Pakistan being deserved to be ranked ahead of NZ.

I would say away, all three- Pak, NZ and SL are about same but due to better home record, NZ is ahead and walks into top 5.

 

[Ab Fan]

Pretty good OP, but in the 1980’s I would actually say that Australia competed with India to be second bottom just above Sri Lanka.

They were still decent until Lillee, Marsh and Chappell retired after they beat an Imran-less Pakistan 2-0 with 3 draws in 1983-84. But even then, they drew 3 Tests against a Pakistan team without any pace bowlers (Sarfraz was banned too, and 48 years old).

But after that Australia was truly dreadful from 1984 until mid-1989, losing Test series at home to England and New Zealand as well as the West Indies, and they were fortunate to avoid Pakistan too until Imran was 37 while Waqar was on overseas debut.

Interesting. England W/L ratio isn't impressive other in 80s. Your take on that?

 

[Junaids]

Interesting. England W/L ratio isn't impressive other in 80s. Your take on that?

Rebel tours.

From 1981 to 1984 it meant that several certain starters were banned - Gooch, Emburey, Willey and Larkins.

Then in 1989 the mishandling of the Gatting barmaid affair a year earlier did the same thing all over again - this time losing Gatting, Jarvis, Foster, Dilley, Broad and Robinson.

How do you go from winning The Ashes away in 86-87 to losing 4-0 at home in 1989? The answer is terrible management driving most of the best players away.

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Below I have made a comparison by listing down the top five teams across each decade and analyze how the teams have fared in last 50 years. The comparison is only for tests.

2010-2019

India
South Africa
England
Australia
New Zealand

6th- Pakistan

2000-2009

Australia
South Africa
India
England
Sri Lanka

6th- Pakistan

1990-1999

Australia
South Africa
Pakistan
Windies
Sri Lanka

6th- India

1980-1990

Windies
Pakistan
New Zealand
Australia
England

6th- India

1970-1980

England
Windies
Australia
India
Pakistan

6th- New Zealand

Overall, only Australia is the team that were in top 5 or rather top 4 in every single decade from 70s onwards.

England went missing in 90s while India went missing in 80s and 90s both.

Pakistan and Windies weren't in top five in past two decades.

New Zealand were present in 80s and 10s while Sri Lanka made it in 90s and in 00s.

Discuss!

Pakistan was much much better than India in the 70s

We had Zaheer, Imran, Miandad, Majid etc.

India was mediocre not only in tests but in ODIs too. Their two WC in 1975 and 1979 are a proof.

Pakistan matched the mighty Windies in their tour there in the 70s. Also won in India. Almost beat AUS in AUS.

 

[Junaids]

Pakistan was much much better than India in the 70s

We had Zaheer, Imran, Miandad, Majid etc.

India was mediocre not only in tests but in ODIs too. Their two WC in 1975 and 1979 are a proof.

Pakistan matched the mighty Windies in their tour there in the 70s. Also won in India. Almost beat AUS in AUS.

I half-agree.

India were ok at home - except the 4-1 defeat by England in 76-77 - but until Kapil Dev emerged they just didn’t have the tools to win away except in damp English conditions where most matches could be drawn.

The Fourth Test loss by India at Kingston in 1975-76 is probably the most cowardly surrender in the 150 year history of cricket.

 

[Ab Fan]

Pakistan was much much better than India in the 70s

We had Zaheer, Imran, Miandad, Majid etc.

India was mediocre not only in tests but in ODIs too. Their two WC in 1975 and 1979 are a proof.

Pakistan matched the mighty Windies in their tour there in the 70s. Also won in India. Almost beat AUS in AUS.

Lol, go and check stats. India actually beat Windies in Windies in early 70s. Pakistan weren't the force before 80s.

Imran, Miandad all became a force only in 80s.

70s was Gavaskar's era along with the spin quartet. Him and Chappell were the two best batsmen of 70s with Viv joining them after '75. Miandad joined even later.

India won double the matches than Pakistan in 70s and played around 1.4 times the number of matches.

17 wins in 64 tests compared to Pakistan's meagre 9 wins in 46 tests. Pakistan were basically minnows in 70s before 78 when Imran started becoming the force. During early 70s, Imran was busy studying politics and economics and philosophy in Oxford.

 

[Ab Fan]

I half-agree.

India were ok at home - except the 4-1 defeat by England in 76-77 - but until Kapil Dev emerged they just didn’t have the tools to win away except in damp English conditions where most matches could be drawn.

The Fourth Test loss by India at Kingston in 1975-76 is probably the most cowardly surrender in the 150 year history of cricket.

As usual, you being your own self. India also defeated Pakistan in 1979-80.

 

[MMHS]

Let's get some experienced posters to help here. Who was the better Test team from 2010-19 span? Pakistan or New Zealand?

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION]

NZ - without any doubt. I'll back it in two ways.

First - direct clash: H2H. If I am not wrong, PAK won a Series in NZ 1-0 in 2012 (?), and drew one in 2010. Similarly, NZ won one and drew one. But, Kiwis have won last series 2-0 at home as well.

Now, comes to indirect comparison - Misbah's PAK was quite strong in UAE, still it did lose Tests against SRL, NZ, WIN & SAF. They didn't lose a series there, but drew few as well. Similarly, Kiwis are equally dominating at home through out the decade which can't be said for PAK.

Beyond Home & Away, we have to look at contrasting playing conditions. In UAE, only team that is familiar with the condition, doesn't face PAK; other one is SRL who has drawn a series, won another one there. NZ in contrary has drawn series in UK & AUS - particularly that win at Hobert was outstanding achievement, when it comes to comparing with PAK.

Finally - that one loss against Bobby Mughabe's ZIM will cut lots of blood from PAK in last decade. I think, in overall ICC Ranking as well, I am not sure when last PAK was ahead of NZ in that period - may be at the start of the decade because of retrospective results of previous 3 years, but I doubt if PAK was ever ahead of NZ, once 2010 & past results were wiped out.

 

[Ab Fan]

Overall taking 50 years completely,

My order is

Australia
England
South Africa
Windies
India
Pakistan
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

 

[Heisenberg111]

Pakistan's away record in 2010s cant be taken without going into context.

Their away wins also included wins in Zimbabwe (and one embarrasing loss) and Ireland.

As I said, if you are losing a test to Zimbabwe in 2013, I don't see Pakistan being deserved to be ranked ahead of NZ.

I would say away, all three- Pak, NZ and SL are about same but due to better home record, NZ is ahead and walks into top 5.

Pakistan has won more away matches(16) than NZ (12). Also their away W/L ratio is better. NZ was better at home though.

 

[Heisenberg111]

Overall taking 50 years completely,

My order is

Australia
England
South Africa
Windies
India
Pakistan
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Not according to the W/L ratio of the last 50 years.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...1970;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. India
4. Pakistan
5. England
6. West Indies

 

[Buffet]

Overall taking 50 years completely,

My order is

Australia
England
South Africa
Windies
India
Pakistan
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Without looking at any data point, I am confident that Eng hasn't been the 2nd best team in the last 50 years. Now if you take 50 years before that then they might because only 2-3 countries used to play.

 

[Robert]

Below I have made a comparison by listing down the top five teams across each decade and analyze how the teams have fared in last 50 years. The comparison is only for tests.

2010-2019

India
South Africa
England
Australia
New Zealand

I'd put England at the top - wins in Australia, India and SA.

 

[Robert]

Interesting. England W/L ratio isn't impressive other in 80s. Your take on that?

England were dreadful in the eighties, winning just two tests in the latter half of the decade, and those against an awful Australian side shorn of Chappell, Lillee, Marsh and the SAB rebels.

Gooch banned, Willis retired, Botham in decline, Dilley mostly injured and no bowling to speak of.

Bad days.

 

[Robert]

Without looking at any data point, I am confident that Eng hasn't been the 2nd best team in the last 50 years. Now if you take 50 years before that then they might because only 2-3 countries used to play.

England, Australia, SA, WI, NZ, India and Pakistan all played for some or all of 1920-70. 1950-1970 was highly competitive.

 

[Buffet]

England, Australia, SA, WI, NZ, India and Pakistan all played for some or all of 1920-70. 1950-1970 was highly competitive.

Cricket was not played by large population in too many countries if we go back 100 years. It was played by part timers or people with priviledge. It doesn't take away anything from Eng doing well in that era, but there is reason that Eng suddenly stopped producing ATG players when cricket got competetive. Eng being a top team in 1920s is a lot different than Eng being a top team in 2020.

 

[Robert]

Cricket was not played by large population in too many countries if we go back 100 years. It was played by part timers or people with priviledge. It doesn't take away anything from Eng doing well in that era, but there is reason that Eng suddenly stopped producing ATG players when cricket got competetive. Eng being a top team in 1920s is a lot different than Eng being a top team in 2020.

Depends where you were. All the bowlers in the CC in 1920 were professionals. I would argue that there was far stronger competition for England places then that now.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Not according to the W/L ratio of the last 50 years.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...1970;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team

1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. India
4. Pakistan
5. England
6. West Indies

It all depends on who was leading the most in the terms of rankings. so

australia
west indies
india
south africa

or vice versa

then England.
Pakistan.

 

[Heisenberg111]

It all depends on who was leading the most in the terms of rankings. so

australia
west indies
india
south africa

or vice versa

then England.
Pakistan.

Nah, West Indies has been ranked no.8 in test cricket for the last 2 decades. Pakistan has been much better. Pakistan's W/L ratio of 1.13 is also much better than West Indies's W/L ratio of 0.85. England also was very poor for most part of 80's and 90's, Pakistan was much better.

 

[Ab Fan]

I'd put England at the top - wins in Australia, India and SA.

Good achievement but England's W/L ratio is so messed up. It's around 1.23 compared to India's 1.93 ,South Africa's 1.80 and Australia's 1.5.

England's away W/L isn't good either. It's below India, SA, Aus and even Pakistan (although that because Pakistan had wins in Ireland and Zimbabwe).

 

[tyron_woodley]

Australia
india
south africa
pakistan
England/west indies


this is the correct order based on when all teams started playing cricket competitively. In terms of wins and overall ranking as number 1 it would be;

australia
west indies
india
south africa
England
pakistan

England are only 4th because they dominated in an era when the sport was new not accessible to non white nations. It was played between scrubs from england, australua and south africa.

 

[Robert]

Good achievement but England's W/L ratio is so messed up. It's around 1.23 compared to India's 1.93 ,South Africa's 1.80 and Australia's 1.5.

England's away W/L isn't good either. It's below India, SA, Aus and even Pakistan (although that because Pakistan had wins in Ireland and Zimbabwe).

When England lose overseas it tends to be by a lot of tests, such as the UAE misadventures or recent Ashes.