Sangakkara flays ICC rankings

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Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said rankings need to be fairly done. 'A fair FTP is the first step towards having proper rankings.' More... Sangakkara flays ICC rankings July 23, 2010 Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara criticised the ICC ranking system, saying it is "unfair", even though the island nation is in sight of becoming the top-ranked Test side after spanking India in the first match of the three-Test series in Galle on Thursday. Asked whether the players take seriously a system that has India at number one despite not having won a series in Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka since 1993, Sangakkara said, "You should have asked that question to Haroon Lorgat (ICC chief executive) who was here." "If rankings can't be understood by the public, the players, or the administrators, what's the use of having rankings? If you want rankings, they should count towards playing a Test championship," he said. Sangakkara said for the ICC ranking system to be acceptable, the FTP should be "fair", with each side playing each other at least once, home or away. "Rankings need to be fairly done. A fair FTP is the first step towards having proper rankings. Once every two years each side should play each other at least once, home or away. That's how you get a fair deal when it comes to Test cricket," he said. Sri Lanka themselves were ranked number two last year without having won a Test in India, Australia and South Africa, a spot they lost after their away loss to India. About his own side's dismal record in the three countries ranked higher than them, Sangakkara said, "I don't think we have played enough Test cricket away. Two Test matches here, two Test matches there, I think that's not good. We need to play Tests regularly. "We have a very good balanced attack, pace and spin. From 2006 to 2009 we have done well. We have won in New Zealand, in England, and in Pakistan. South Africa, Australia and India are the three places that we need to win. We need to play often in those places," said the suave Lankan skipper. Interestingly, the current Test ranking system does not give extra weightage to victories away from home. The rating points earned or conceded are calculated based on the difference between where the teams stood before the start of the series.

[gs]

So says a captain of the biggest flat-track home bullies ever!

[Andy]

So says a captain of the biggest flat-track home bullies ever!

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[cowboysfan]

he makes a fair point.Sri lanka have not played a lot of tests away in recent times.the rankings are really flawed imo.a two tier system with 4 teams in the top groups with each team playing a minimum of a 3 match series against the other 3 in the group(for 2 years home and away) would be a better way to gauge which is the best test team in the world.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

i completely agree wth his point on the FTP.

[The Outsider]

Asked whether the players take seriously a system that has India at number one despite not having won a series in Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka since 1993, Sangakkara said, "You should have asked that question to Haroon Lorgat (ICC chief executive) who was here."

Between 1999 and 2004, Australia did not have series wins in India and Sri Lanka and in 2005 they lost the series in England. So, I guess it would be fair to say Australia were number one only for 1 year based on this logic. I wonder how that would fly with the world.

[Serani]

No one wants Sri Lanka to tour them. Pretty harsh to be honest.

[achilles]

Sangakarra, I have a lot of respect for your cricketing abilities. But your interviews are just as good as your team's bench-strength.

[Guest Hiten.]

he makes a fair point.Sri lanka have not played a lot of tests away in recent times.the rankings are really flawed imo.a two tier system with 4 teams in the top groups with each team playing a minimum of a 3 match series against the other 3 in the group(for 2 years home and away) would be a better way to gauge which is the best test team in the world.

ICC can only gauge teams' performances and that's about it. It is the respective boards' job to attend the FTP meeting and make sure they get the 'topdogs' playing them at home or at least their team be able to play the top notches on a away series. I did not see Sanga whine about the rankings table when SL were comfortably sitting on #2 without a single victory in RSA, India and Australia, now suddenly the roses on the bed feel like thorns eh ? One thing that I can agree with Sanga's whine is to weigh away performances much more than the home based series.

[Rajiv]

Whats that Whingakkara

[Hell Raiser]

Sanga shouldn't even be talking about a fair FTP. They refused to tour England in 2009 so that they can play in Ipl.

[cowboysfan]

the system right now with the ftp is flawed because sa,australia and england will put off scheduling them for a home series for as long as its viable.we need a system to force the top teams to play each other in a home and away series.that to me is a true Test championship.

[The Outsider]

the system right now with the ftp is flawed because sa' date='australia and england will put off scheduling them for a home series for as long as its viable.we need a system to force the top teams to play each other in a home and away series.that to me is a true Test championship.[/quote'] Huh? Why was Sangakkara and the others more interested in playing IPL over a test series in England? He is just speaking garbage as usual. Sometimes I question the intelligence of these journalists who cannot ask these guys these basic and pointed questions and just fill up columns with sweet nothings.

[Andy]

Sanga shouldn't even be talking about a fair FTP. They refused to tour England in 2009 so that they can play in Ipl.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[cowboysfan]

Huh? Why was Sangakkara and the others more interested in playing IPL over a test series in England? He is just speaking garbage as usual. Sometimes I question the intelligence of these journalists who cannot ask these guys these basic and pointed questions and just fill up columns with sweet nothings.

well if we had a a "true" test championship then the ipl will be irrelevant and we can stop people from whining about FTBs and who deserves what.

[The Outsider]

well if we had a a "true" test championship then the ipl will be irrelevant and we can stop people from whining about FTBs and who deserves what.

There is simply no point having a 'true' test championship where all teams play the others on an equal basis. It would make test cricket even less exciting than it is today. The South Africa - West Indies series and Australia - New Zealand series over the last few months are classic example. Even a test cricket enthusiast like me gave them an almost complete miss. Who wants to watch more of that drudgery? Frankly, the top teams should play each other more often and it should be for the crappy teams to prove their worth in the limited chances that they get to play more with the top countries. Can't keep having more meaningless and one sided test matches, just for the sake of giving everyone an 'equal' chance.

[Mr. Wicket]

If Sri Lanka wants to play longer and more relevant test series with Aus, then maybe they should try and not get arseraped in such one-sided contests each time they tour Australia. Same applies for their other tours. Sangakrya can go fetch another box of tissues for his next interviews. Whine whine nobody loves us whine whine nobody gives us respekt - learn how to perform outside your home grounds with some consistency - hell, stop getting embarrassed by frigging HARBHAJAN for gods sake every time you tour India, and then maybe we'll think of giving your band some credibility. Meanwhile, bring on Australia's tour of India. Or even New Zealand's - heck, they usually put up more of a fight than these whiners and will make India work even harder for a win at home.

[zen]

I guess, Sanga doesn't expect SL to be #1. it's like 'hey, they aren't accurate so no big deal if we didn't get to be #1' :--D Go India :two_thumbs_up:

[Zelig]

Does a day pass by without him whining? Poor wifey:((

[Desi Cartman]

He was asked what he thinks about the ranking when a team can be #1 without winning away ... he answered the question ... I dont see anything wrong in what he said. Its just his opinion