England have slipped to the bottom of the World Test Championship standings after Sri Lanka completed a 328-run thrashing of Bangladesh inside four days in Sylhet.
Although England have prevailed in three of their 10 Tests with Sri Lanka gaining a first triumph in three fixtures in the 2023-25 cycle, teams are ranked according to the percentage of points won.
Hindering England’s progress was a 19-point deduction for slow over-rates in four of last year’s five Ashes Test in a thrilling series which finished 2-2. England have recently returned from a tough series in India, where they were beaten 4-1 by the hosts.
Had that not been applied, England, third in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings behind India and Australia, would sit in fifth place in the nine-team World Test Championship.
Ben Stokes’ side have a dozen matches remaining before the final at Lord’s in June 2025, starting with three-Test series at home against both the West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer and winter tours to Pakistan and New Zealand before the year is out.
They begin their Test summer against the West Indies at Lord’s from 10 July.
England have failed to reach the final in either of the first two editions, finishing fourth in the 2021-23 cycle – having languished at the bottom of the table for a period before the appointment of Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum as head coach led to a turnaround in results.
Sri Lanka, coached by former England boss Chris Silverwood, dominated proceedings in Sylhet thanks largely to twin centuries from captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis.
A masterful second-innings 164 from Mendis, who can also bowl with either arm, left Bangladesh chasing a mammoth 511 in the final innings, with Kasun Rajitha taking five wickets to seal the visitors’ victory.
The two-Test series continues in Chattogram from Saturday 30 March.
PA
