Cricket's Lineal Champions

Method

• Seed: international lineages begin with the winner of the first official match in that format. The IPL lineage begins with the winner of the inaugural tournament.
• Transfer: beat the reigning holder in an official match and the championship changes hands. A draw, tie or no result leaves the holder unchanged unless an official tiebreak produces a winner.
• Test dates: a Test reign begins on the date the match is completed, not the first day of the fixture.
• Same-day matches: where more than one eligible match is played on the same date, official match numbering determines chronological order.
• Eligibility: tournament and bilateral matches count equally. Associate nations are eligible whenever the match itself has official international status.
• Dormancy: inactivity does not strip the title. A championship remains with its holder until that holder is defeated in an official match. An exception applies to South Africa’s period of international isolation: when the country was excluded from Test cricket after March 1970, the championship reverted to the previous holder, Australia.