Melbourne, May 1 (IANS) Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive officer James Sutherland has congratulated its men's team and support staff Thursday after it achieved the No.1 spot in the ICC Test and One-Day International (ODI) rankings.
"Everyone involved with the Australian team - players, coaches and support staff - should be incredibly proud of this achievement. There has been a huge amount of hard work and effort on and off the field to get to this point and it's something that those involved with the side should take time to savour," Sutherland said.
"Australian cricket's team performance programme led by Pat Howard deserves considerable credit for this outcome. High praise needs to go to Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann for their excellent leadership.
"We have had some tough challenges over the past 18 months. So to turn the corner and again be recognised as the world's best-performed nation in Test and ODI cricket for the first time in five years is a great achievement.
"The challenge ahead will be to create sustained success - to ensure Australia's performances remain at the top of the international game for years to come. We believe we are putting in place the foundations to make that happen. We are committed to doing everything we can to achieve continuous improvement."
Australia last held the No.1 Test ranking in Aug 2009 while the last time it was ranked at the top of Test and ODI cricket was Dec 2008.
Australia's next fixture is an ODI series against Zimbabwe and South Africa in Zimbabwe in August. They will then take on Pakistan in two Test matches, three ODIs and one Twenty20 International to be played in the United Arab Emirates in October.
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