LONDON — Sunday's draw in the Ashes finale at the Oval saw England leapfrog India into second place in the International Cricket Council Test rankings as Australia dropped to fifth place — its lowest position for two years. England won the series 3-0 and thereby gained four ratings points to finish with 116 in total. It started the Ashes in third place in the ICC standings. However, after taking a 3-0 lead in the five-Test series, England required either a draw or a win at the Oval to move ahead of India into second position. The draw saw England join India on 116 points, but ranked above it when the standings were calculated to a decimal point. Meanwhile, Australia dropped four ratings points to slip below Pakistan and into fifth place. This meant Australia, which has now failed to win its last nine Tests, was in its lowest position in the standings since it was last ranked fifth in August 2011. The Test Championship table is updated only after the end of a series. Leader South Africa, the current holder of the ICC Test Championship crown, is currently 19 points clear of England at the top of the table. West Indies is sixth in the rankings followed by Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Flower wants changes to light rules England coach Andy Flower has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to change the regulations regarding bad light after his side narrowly missed out on a dramatic victory in the final Ashes Test Sunday. Chasing 227 after a bold declaration from Australia captain Michael Clarke, England was 21 runs short of its target with four overs remaining when bad light forced the players off the field at the Oval. “Where I think the ICC could improve the regulations, and we've spoken with ICC officials about this for years, I think the description that they use when judging bad light and when they consider whether it's dangerous or not - often it is not dangerous and it's a poor description of that particular regulation,” Flower told a press conference Monday. “In my opinion it should be whether the contest between bat and ball is reasonable and fair. “If there are spinners bowling, under their regulations at the moment it almost means you could play until it is dark because it's obviously not dangerous.” Lehmann apologizes Australia coach Darren Lehmann has apologized to Stuart Broad for accusing him of cheating, the England all-rounder said Monday. In an interview with an Australian radio station Lehmann attacked Broad for not ‘walking' during the first Ashes Test in Nottingham last month, for which he was fined 20 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council. He accused Broad of “blatant cheating” and called on Australia's fans to send him home from the return Ashes series later this year in tears. “Spoke to Darren Lehmann last night. He apologized for his comments, I accepted it. He said they were made in jest,” Broad said on his Twitter account. Lehmann, who took over as coach just before the start of the series, said he would learn from the controversy. “I've had a chat with him already. We just move on,” he told a news conference Monday. “It was a good learning curve for a new coach, wasn't it? “You know, it was a jovial setting but you've got to learn from that. The players aren't on their own in trying to improve, coaches have got to improve so that's something I've got to get better at.” — Agencies
