BARBADOS’ netball ranking has improved one place to ninth, but it had absolutely nothing to with the performances of the team.
Idle for the year, Barbados benefited from regional neighbours Trinidad and Tobago who fell one place to tenth after losing seven of eight international matches played in May.
Trinidad and Tobago lost a three-Test series to England 69-36, 67-42 and 65-42. They also competed at the European Ranking and Open Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland, winning only one match.
That lone victory was against the host nation 52-40. They lost to England (63-42), Wales (53-46), Scotland (45-42) and a close encounter with South Africa (46-42).
Meanwhile, Barbados have not played a single international or warm-up as the team looks to the World Cup in Australia in August. They will play three warm-up matches against fourth-ranked Jamaica from June 18 to 22.
However, that is expected to be a very tough series, with Nikita Piggott, Damisha Croney and Kizzy Marville missing the tour.
Australia remain at the top of the world rankings, New Zealand are in second place and England third.
World Rankings Top 20
Ranking Team Played Weighted Points Rating
1 Australia 44 32 6 377 199
2 New Zealand 46 36 6 305 175
3 England 69 52 8 421 162
4 Jamaica 35 24 3 562 148
5 Malawi 36 26 3 511 135
6 South Africa 48 34 4 590 135
7 Fiji 35 25 3 024 121
8 Wales 36 27 3 006 111
9 Barbados 34 26 2 541 98
10 Trinidad & Tobago 40 34 3 228 95
11 Scotland 42 34 3 165 93
12 Northern Ireland 42 34 3 027 89
13 Samoa 29 22 1 880 85
14 Uganda 14 12 999 83
15 Tanzania 11 6 457 76
16 Botswana 33 24 1 408 59
17 Singapore 46 34 1 952 57
18 Zambia 18 12 658 55
19 Papua New Guinea 32 26 1 285 49
20 St Lucia 17 14 648 46
