England sink to lowest ranking since 1995 amidst "ridiculous" match schedule

England have sunk to their lowest point in Test cricket since 1995 after slipping to sixth in the ICC Test rankings - sandwiched between Pakistan (fifth) and Sri Lanka (seventh).

Their current tally of 88 ranking points is their lowest since 1995 as they all but exit contention to play in the World Test Championship final in 2023. They have won just one Test in the current cycle, which was against India in August 2021.

However, England have played a total of 29 Tests in the current ranking period, six more than the next most (India and New Zealand) even as the side embarks on their home summer.

Packed England schedule in the spotlight

England's newfound ranking has outlined the unintended perils of playing too much cricket, with the sheer volume of matches an evident strain on players. It's hard not to draw parallels between the lower rankings and the high volume of cricket played - Australia are ranked first with 19 matches played.

Across all formats, England have played 40 matches in the past 12 months and continue to be the international side that plays the most cricket.

The next three months see three home Test series - a three-match Test series against New Zealand in June, a one-off Test against India to complete the Test series from 2021, and another three-match series against South Africa beginning in August.

England captain Ben Stokes has called for the "ridiculous" scheduling to be addressed

The northern summer will host play for up to 50 days within a 102-day period.

Beyond that, between June and the end of March 2023, England will play a combined 54 matches across 10 months (all formats). That has reportedly even swayed their decision to split the coaches between red-ball and white-ball affairs.

Ben Stokes, who was recently appointed as England's next Test captain, has called for the "ridiculous" scheduling to be addressed amongst his first utterances to the media as captain.

“The schedule definitely is something that needs looking at. It’s ridiculous the amount of cricket that is expected of people to play. The fact there is a Test match and a one-day series overlapping sums it up. It really needs looking at from a workload point of view, it is just so much.

“I want to play as much as I can and in an ideal world you would have a schedule that allows you to play everything, but unfortunately that is not possible. My No. 1 priority is Test cricket at the moment so I have to prioritise that over white ball," he said, speaking to the media last week.

The 1990s were widely considered to be the pits of English Test cricket. During that period, they failed to win an Ashes series, suffered humiliating defeats to India and the West Indies, and even lost a Test series to New Zealand.

But it is debatable whether the current side has stooped that low, as the numbers seem to suggest - their ranking points have dropped from 97 to 88.

England's two recent horror series - a 0-1 loss in the West Indies and a 0-4 thrashing in the Ashes last Australian summer - remain the only series' given 100 percent weight in the ICC rankings, with matches prior to May 2021 now weighted at 50 percent.

Their home Test series against India last summer is currently incomplete (2-1 to India with one match to play) and therefore doesn't count towards the rankings.

Meanwhile, the side's 4-1 win at home against India in 2018 has also just been wiped from the rating points with the new rankings reflecting all Tests played since May 2019.

England suffered a 0-4 thrashing in the Ashes 2021-22

The adverse effects of fixturing anomalies have seen Australia rise to No.1 in the Test rankings, perhaps in a disproportionate fashion given they have played just 12 Tests (only three away) since February 2020.