Netball: Silver Ferns now world No. 1

The Silver Ferns. Photo / Getty Images

The Silver Ferns have ousted Australia from the top perch in the IFNA world rankings for the first time since the ratings system was introduced at the beginning of 2008.

In the latest rankings released over the weekend, the Ferns leapfrogged Australia into No 1, ending a near three-year reign atop the rankings for Norma Plummer's side.

But given the close nature of transtasman matches in recent times, there is little separating the two sides, with the Ferns holding the top spot by just one rating point.

The climb up the rankings comes on the back of a very successful few months for the national side. After finishing last year on a high with Commonwealth Games gold, the Ferns opened 2011 with a 3-0 series clean-sweep over England last week.

Australia, meanwhile had a mixed tour to Jamaica, returning home with a win, a draw and a loss.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle said while the rankings weren't foremost in the minds of the Ferns' management team on their recent tour, they are thrilled to take the top spot.

"At the end of the day everything we did in England was about building to the world championships and moving towards that goal, so getting the number one ranking was a bonus," said Castle.

However the new rankings will have no impact on seedings for the 2011 world championships in Singapore.

The draw for the July tournament was based on the final finishing places at the 2007 world championships in Auckland. That means the Ferns are likely to face England in the semifinals, whereas had they been based on the rankings at the time the draw was made, they would have been in line for a meeting with Jamaica - a team they are usually more comfortable playing.

With IFNA basing their seedings for the world championships on results from four years ago, it begs the question what purpose do the rankings actually serve?

Castle said for the minnow netball nations it gives them a chance to work their way up the rankings and earn entry into pinnacle events.

She said the up-to-date rankings are also used to determine seedings for the Commonwealth Games.

"It would certainly be our preference that they would use world rankings as the seedings for all pinnacle events, but currently that's not IFNA's position."

"We think it's a valuable tool, we would just like to see it used consistently."

IFNA WORLD RANKINGS

(As of January 21, 2011)

1. New Zealand - 174
2. Australia - 173
3. England - 150
4. Jamaica - 140
5. Fiji - 129
6. South Africa - 126
7. Malawi - 124
8. Trinidad and Tobago - 104
9. Samoa - 96
10. Barbados - 94