Australia receive one-day championship award
Australia captain Ricky Ponting collected the one-day championship
shield on Sunday for his team's move to the top of the world rankings.
The Australians regained top spot after defeating the West Indies in
the opening game of the five-match ODI series in St. Vincent in June.
The shield was presented to Ponting here by Inderjit Bindra,
principal adviser to the International Cricket Council (ICC), ahead of
the third Test against India starting on Wednesday.
"It's good for Australia to hold the ICC ODI Championship shield once
again," Ponting said.
"Following our success in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007 we were
challenged at the top of the rankings by a good South Africa team but we
pride ourselves on improvement.
"I'm pleased that we've played well enough recently in ODI cricket to
regain this prestigious award."
Bindra hailed Australia's performance in the 50-over format over the
year.
"For me Australia has always been an exciting side and is the worthy
holder of the ICC ODI Championship shield as it has shown remarkable
consistency in winning 25 of the 34 ODIs, with three no-results, since
April 1, 2007.
"It retained the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies last year
and reclaimed the number-one position by making a clean sweep of the
five-match series against the West Indies."
NEW DELHI, Sunday AFP
ICC One-Day Championship Table
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 118
3 England 116
4 New Zealand 113
5 India 113
6 Pakistan 110
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 95
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 19
11 Zimbabwe 15
12 Kenya 14 |