HARARE, July 16: Zimbabwe have dropped out of the ICC Test Championship as a result of them only playing eight Tests in the last three years. The ICC Test rankings have historically been based on a minimum of 10 Tests played by each country over three to four years.

At the top of the table, Australia have extended their lead and are now 26 rating points clear of second-placed England. Sri Lanka are another eight points further back having moved up two places to the third position, and South Africa are also up two places from sixth spot to fourth.

Pakistan are big losers after the update having dropped three places from third to sixth. The yearly update is carried out to ensure the table continues to reflect recent form with older results being discarded. As such, the new table only includes results from the series completed after Aug 1, 2004.—Agencies