Australia strengthened its position as the No.1 Test nation when the International Cricket Council launched a new system for its Test Championship table at Lord's.

Under the new system, Australia heads the table with a rating of 129, 14 ahead of South Africa.

Unlike the old format which only awarded points for series wins, regardless of margins and opponents, the new system reflects performances in all Test Matches, including dead rubbers, and is weighted to recognise the strength of opposition.

The new method, developed by international scorer and actuary David Kendix, is similar to the ICC One-Day International Championship, which Australia also tops.

A rating of 100 reflects average performance, so a team winning and losing a similar number of matches and playing a broad mix of opponents will have a rating close to 100.

Despite its overwhelming status as the world's top cricketing nation and a 4-1 series thrashing of England, Australia lost its No.1 Test spot to South Africa earlier this year.

The 3-1 win over the West Indies this month restored the Australians to the top but only by 0.01 of a point under the old system.

"The original ICC Test Championship was launched in May 2001 and we stated at the time that we would monitor its application," said ICC president Malcolm Gray.

"That process has now been completed and the revised system provides a fair reflection of the achievements of all 10 full members."

The other side to benefit most from the new system is Pakistan which has overtaken West Indies to move to seventh position, behind India only by virtue of fewer matches played.

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