Update History 

This ratings system is a product of more than 5 years of work, where improvements were made constantly. This timeline is from the day the system was initiated in the web.

• 03/23/06 - ODI Bowling minimum qualification reverted to 100 wickets.

• 10/18/05 - 12th man added to Test and ODI XI lists. A bowler was chosen as is the norm.

• 10/17/05 - One of the factors considered to rate Greatest Test Bowling Performances was modified to make more sense, with some variations in the list.

• 09/21/05 - Minor adjustment to the points awarded for completing a 10-wkt haul in Test bowling. The credit given was reduced to a more reasonable level than it was.

• 04/24/05 - Minor change made to the weight given to the point of entry index in the Greatest Test Batting Performances list. Opening batsmen benefited.

• 04/05/05 - Due to time constraints, from now on, the site will only be updated when there are significant time periods where no cricket is played.

• 01/31/05 - The weights of factors in the Greatest Test Batting and Bowling Performances lists were changed logically to make the equations used more accurate in rating performances.

• 01/22/05 - The peak PwC ratings was excluded from the factors used to rate Player careers. Changes in the ratings system were minor.

• 01/22/05 - Not outs taken into account when rating Greatest Batting Performances.

• 12/16/04 - Greatest ODI Batting and Bowling Performances lists.

• 12/09/04 - Greatest Test Batting and Bowling Performances lists.

• 12/03/04 - Test XIs and ODI XIs introduced.

• 11/21/04 - Considerable flaw in the Test All-Round Ratings corrected. Since this is a career ratings system, consistency is awarded more points over one-off brilliant performances. Therefore, points awarded for all-round performances was reduced to a reasonable amount, and more points were given for consistency of performances. As a result, Imran Khan moved into the top position of the ratings over Ian Botham. Another major change was of the ratings of Shaun Pollock, who is now the highest rated current all-rounder above Jacques Kallis. These types of updates will be rare and far between unless obvious anomalies are found.

• 11/20/04 - Ratings lists sorted by era for ODI players.

• 11/19/04 - Ratings lists sorted by era for Test players.

• 11/19/04 - Test and ODI All-Round ratings were adjusted to penalize players who managed decent ratings by being great at one discipline and poor at the other - not generally considered an all-round quality. Players who lost points in the Test All-Round ratings include Shane Warne and Wasim Akram.

• 11/19/04 - Major anomaly in the Test Bowling Ratings corrected. I had been trying to get around this problem for a while, but had failed because of insufficient information of players. The anomaly arises when comparing bowlers of different eras. Bowlers in the early stages of Test cricket (1877-1915) had much better figures compared to other eras - outstanding examples include George Lohmann and Sydney Barnes. The general view is that bowlers of that era were helped to a large extent by the uncovered pitches that offered extravagant movement. To acknowledge this, large penalties were previously in place for players who had not completed 40 matches and 125 wickets -  since most bowlers of that era did not manage that. But that led to the somewhat unfair penalization of players of other eras who had not fully qualified.

                  Recent suggestions and criticisms led me to rethink this issue - so I have decided to introduce separate penalties for bowlers who played before 1914 and those who played after 1914. This took care of the inconsistency successfully. Bowlers who experienced major changes in their ratings include:

  • Johny Wardle - Ratings increased from 291 to 521, ranking from 93 to 33.
  • Neil Adcock - Ratings increased from 246 to 468, ranking from 106 to 51.
  • Bruce Reid - Ratings increased from 260 to 463, ranking from 100 to 52.
  • Steve Harmison - Ratings increased from 166 to 353, ranking from 126 to 82.  
  • Bill O'Reilly - Rating increased from 469 to 619, ranking from 46 to 24.
  • Colin Croft - Ratings increased from 304 to 402, ranking from 88 to 72.
  • George Lohmann - Ratings decreased from 738 to 654, ranking from 14th to 20th.
  • Shoaib Akhtar - Ratings increased from 420 to 488, ranking from 60 to 43.
  • Clarrie Grimmett - Ratings increased from 741 to 790, ranking from 12 to 8.
  • Sydney Barnes - Ratings decreased from 904 to 863, but still managed to hold on to the third spot ahead of Shane Warne.

                  The same issue is observed to a lesser extent in the Test Batting list, where batsmen of the 1877-1915 period were not given due recognition for plying their trade in difficult conditions. Accordingly, the points awarded for batsmen of that era was increased by a considerable amount. Batsmen who experienced changes in their ratings include: 

  • Victor Trumper - Rating increased from 455 to 545, debuts in the top 100 at 75.
  • Clem Hill - Rating increased from 449 to 538, debuts in the top 100 at 77.
  • Warwick Armstrong - Rating increased from 420 to 504, debuts in the top 100 at 89.            

       The Test All-Round list was updated accordingly, with minor changes.

• 11/11/04 - Player country lists for each ratings category introduced.

• 11/10/04 - Minor flaw in the ODI Bowling Ratings corrected. The points awarded for 5 wickets/innings was reduced to a reasonable amount.

• 11/02/04 - Web site initiated