Graeme Smith’s side climbs into second place, India and England drop to third and fourth respectively
India can regain second spot if England beats Proteas in upcoming series
South Africa is the main beneficiary of the annual update of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table.
It has moved above India and England into second place, although it is still 23 rating points behind runaway leaders Australia.
But if it sweeps the four-match series with England that starts at Lord’s in London on Thursday 10 July then it will gain six rating points to move within 17 of Ricky Ponting’s men.
The annual update is carried out to ensure the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table continues to reflect recent and current form with older results being discarded.
The new table no longer reflects series concluded before 1 August 2005 and that benefits South Africa because it means losing series against Sri Lanka (0-1), India (0-1) and England (1-2) no longer feature in the calculations.
For India, a narrow series loss at home to Australia (1-2), that series win over South Africa and a drawn series with Pakistan (1-1) no longer count.
The update means the table reflects recent form while also taking into account results over the past three years.
India will be watching the England – South Africa series closely because, dependent on the result, Anil Kumble’s side could move back into second place in double-quick time.
The permutations are these:
To retain second place, South Africa needs to avoid defeat in the series against England.
If England wins the series 1-0 or 2-1, then India and South Africa will swap places.
A win for England by 2-0, 3-1 or 3-0 will leave India second, but see England go third, with South Africa slipping back to fourth.
A 4-0 clean sweep for England would lift its rating to 114 and into second place, with India third (at its current mark of 113 points) and South Africa further adrift on 106 points. The comforting fact for South Africa and India is that England has not enjoyed a series sweep since 2004 when it won all seven home Tests against New Zealand (3-0) and the West Indies (4-0). It did beat Bangladesh in 2005, but that was a two-match series.
If the series is tied, South Africa and India would be level on 113 points but the Proteas would retain second place when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
If England wins 1-0 or 2-1, it would be locked with South Africa on 110 points but, again, South Africa would be the side placed higher in the table, again when the rating is calculated past the decimal point. This scenario would see India in second place.
South Africa, India and England are the only sides to alter their rankings thanks to the update, although the West Indies is now just two rating points behind seventh-placed New Zealand thanks to series losses against England (0-4), South Africa (0-2) and Sri Lanka (0-2) dropping out of the equation.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test cricket, England and South Africa are very closely matched, something that mirrors all the series between the sides since the Proteas’ return to international cricket in the early 1990s.
Both line-ups have two batsmen inside the top 20 with Jacques Kallis (sixth) and Graeme Smith (12th) balanced out by Kevin Pietersen (10th) and Andrew Strauss (16th).
And just outside the top 20 the balance is still maintained with three South Africans, AB de Villiers (25th) the in-form Hashim Amla (26th) and Neil McKenzie (32nd) facing off against Alastair Cook (21st), Paul Collingwood (24th) and England captain Michael Vaughan (30th).
England has more players – four – inside the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, but South Africa has the two highest ranked players from the two line-ups.
Fast man Dale Steyn is within a whisker of replacing Muttiah Muralidaran in top slot as he starts the series just five rating points behind the Sri Lanka spin wizard.
And in fifth spot is Makhaya Ntini, with 344 Test wickets, 16th in the list of all-time Test wicket-takers and with Dennis Lillee’s 355 wickets his next target to chase down.
Steyn, incidentally, made his Test debut against England in 2004-05, taking eight wickets in three matches, but since returning to the South Africa side in April 2006 he has taken 108 wickets in 20 matches and is one of world cricket’s in-form men.
England’s quartet inside the top 20 are Ryan Sidebottom, just behind Ntini in sixth slot, spinner Monty Panesar in 11th place, then Matthew Hoggard – still searching for a return to the starting line-up – in 16th and Andrew Flintoff, on his way back from ankle and side injuries, in 19th position.
England’s leading wicket-taker in its recent series with New Zealand, James Anderson (19 wickets in three matches) is 26th in the bowling list, with his best-ever rating.
Kallis is the top all-rounder in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings with Flintoff in third place. Sandwiched between the two is New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.
The matches in Test series between England and South Africa are as follows:
10 – 14 July – first Test, Lord’s, London
18 – 22 July – second Test, Headingley, Leeds
30 July – 3 August – third Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham
7 – 11 August – Fourth Test, The Oval, London
LG ICC Test Championship (for series completed up to 1 August 2006)
Rank (previous*) Team Rating (previous*)
1 (1) Australia 138 (141)
2 (4) South Africa 115 (109)
3 (2) India 113 (111)
4 (3) England 106 (110)
5 (5) Sri Lanka 103 (106)
6 (5) Pakistan 100 (94)
7 (7) New Zealand 83 (88)
8 (8) West Indies 81 (77)
9 (9) Bangladesh 0 (1)
* Figures in brackets denote positions and ratings of teams prior to the annual update
Note 1: Zimbabwe has a rating of 19 but has not played sufficient Tests over the period covered to be ranked on the main table
Note 2: The table takes into account the alteration of the result of the 2006 Oval Test match.
Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and bowlers (as of 17 June)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Rating
1 K.C.Sangakkara SL 893 55.19 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2 S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
3 Mike Hussey Aus 882 68.38 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
4= Ricky Ponting Aus 880 58.37 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
Mhd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6 Jacques Kallis SA 877 57.14 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
7 Matthew Hayden Aus 834 53.51 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
8 M.Jayawardena SL 810 51.93 844 v WI at Guyana 2008
9 Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
10 Kevin Pietersen Eng 795 49.55 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
11 Michael Clarke Aus 723 47.06 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
12 Graeme Smith SA 712 48.57 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
13 S.R.Tendulkar Ind 704 55.31 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
14 Rahul Dravid Ind 701 54.88 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
15 Andrew Symonds Aus 700* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
16 Andrew Strauss Eng 686 42.28 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
17 Virender Sehwag Ind 681 51.75 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
18 Sourav Ganguly Ind 674 42.71 713 v Aus at Adelaide 1999
19 VVS Laxman Ind 672 43.82 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
20 R.R.Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Points Avge Econ HS Rating
1 M.Muralidaran SL 897 21.95 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 Dale Steyn SA 892 21.60 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 Stuart Clark Aus 863*! 21.46 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 Brett Lee Aus 794 29.58 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
5 Makhaya Ntini SA 777 27.85 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 Ryan Sidebottom Eng 748*! 25.11 748 v NZ at Trent Bridge 2008
7 Chaminda Vaas SL 709 29.09 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
8 Anil Kumble Ind 708 29.06 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
9 Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 Shane Bond NZ 668* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 Monty Panesar Eng 647 31.99 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
13 Corey Collymore WI 621* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007
14 Zaheer Khan Ind 619 33.60 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 Matthew Hoggard Eng 618 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006
17 Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 Harbhajan Singh Ind 608 31.03 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
19 Andrew Flintoff Eng 603 32.02 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
20 Daniel Vettori NZ 591 34.43 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 495 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 324 360 v Eng at Lord's 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 (+2) Dwayne Bravo WI 295*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 (-1) Chaminda Vaas SL 294 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
India can regain second spot if England beats Proteas in upcoming series
South Africa is the main beneficiary of the annual update of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table.
It has moved above India and England into second place, although it is still 23 rating points behind runaway leaders Australia.
But if it sweeps the four-match series with England that starts at Lord’s in London on Thursday 10 July then it will gain six rating points to move within 17 of Ricky Ponting’s men.
The annual update is carried out to ensure the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table continues to reflect recent and current form with older results being discarded.
The new table no longer reflects series concluded before 1 August 2005 and that benefits South Africa because it means losing series against Sri Lanka (0-1), India (0-1) and England (1-2) no longer feature in the calculations.
For India, a narrow series loss at home to Australia (1-2), that series win over South Africa and a drawn series with Pakistan (1-1) no longer count.
The update means the table reflects recent form while also taking into account results over the past three years.
India will be watching the England – South Africa series closely because, dependent on the result, Anil Kumble’s side could move back into second place in double-quick time.
The permutations are these:
To retain second place, South Africa needs to avoid defeat in the series against England.
If England wins the series 1-0 or 2-1, then India and South Africa will swap places.
A win for England by 2-0, 3-1 or 3-0 will leave India second, but see England go third, with South Africa slipping back to fourth.
A 4-0 clean sweep for England would lift its rating to 114 and into second place, with India third (at its current mark of 113 points) and South Africa further adrift on 106 points. The comforting fact for South Africa and India is that England has not enjoyed a series sweep since 2004 when it won all seven home Tests against New Zealand (3-0) and the West Indies (4-0). It did beat Bangladesh in 2005, but that was a two-match series.
If the series is tied, South Africa and India would be level on 113 points but the Proteas would retain second place when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
If England wins 1-0 or 2-1, it would be locked with South Africa on 110 points but, again, South Africa would be the side placed higher in the table, again when the rating is calculated past the decimal point. This scenario would see India in second place.
South Africa, India and England are the only sides to alter their rankings thanks to the update, although the West Indies is now just two rating points behind seventh-placed New Zealand thanks to series losses against England (0-4), South Africa (0-2) and Sri Lanka (0-2) dropping out of the equation.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test cricket, England and South Africa are very closely matched, something that mirrors all the series between the sides since the Proteas’ return to international cricket in the early 1990s.
Both line-ups have two batsmen inside the top 20 with Jacques Kallis (sixth) and Graeme Smith (12th) balanced out by Kevin Pietersen (10th) and Andrew Strauss (16th).
And just outside the top 20 the balance is still maintained with three South Africans, AB de Villiers (25th) the in-form Hashim Amla (26th) and Neil McKenzie (32nd) facing off against Alastair Cook (21st), Paul Collingwood (24th) and England captain Michael Vaughan (30th).
England has more players – four – inside the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, but South Africa has the two highest ranked players from the two line-ups.
Fast man Dale Steyn is within a whisker of replacing Muttiah Muralidaran in top slot as he starts the series just five rating points behind the Sri Lanka spin wizard.
And in fifth spot is Makhaya Ntini, with 344 Test wickets, 16th in the list of all-time Test wicket-takers and with Dennis Lillee’s 355 wickets his next target to chase down.
Steyn, incidentally, made his Test debut against England in 2004-05, taking eight wickets in three matches, but since returning to the South Africa side in April 2006 he has taken 108 wickets in 20 matches and is one of world cricket’s in-form men.
England’s quartet inside the top 20 are Ryan Sidebottom, just behind Ntini in sixth slot, spinner Monty Panesar in 11th place, then Matthew Hoggard – still searching for a return to the starting line-up – in 16th and Andrew Flintoff, on his way back from ankle and side injuries, in 19th position.
England’s leading wicket-taker in its recent series with New Zealand, James Anderson (19 wickets in three matches) is 26th in the bowling list, with his best-ever rating.
Kallis is the top all-rounder in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings with Flintoff in third place. Sandwiched between the two is New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.
The matches in Test series between England and South Africa are as follows:
10 – 14 July – first Test, Lord’s, London
18 – 22 July – second Test, Headingley, Leeds
30 July – 3 August – third Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham
7 – 11 August – Fourth Test, The Oval, London
LG ICC Test Championship (for series completed up to 1 August 2006)
Rank (previous*) Team Rating (previous*)
1 (1) Australia 138 (141)
2 (4) South Africa 115 (109)
3 (2) India 113 (111)
4 (3) England 106 (110)
5 (5) Sri Lanka 103 (106)
6 (5) Pakistan 100 (94)
7 (7) New Zealand 83 (88)
8 (8) West Indies 81 (77)
9 (9) Bangladesh 0 (1)
* Figures in brackets denote positions and ratings of teams prior to the annual update
Note 1: Zimbabwe has a rating of 19 but has not played sufficient Tests over the period covered to be ranked on the main table
Note 2: The table takes into account the alteration of the result of the 2006 Oval Test match.
Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and bowlers (as of 17 June)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Rating
1 K.C.Sangakkara SL 893 55.19 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2 S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
3 Mike Hussey Aus 882 68.38 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
4= Ricky Ponting Aus 880 58.37 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
Mhd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6 Jacques Kallis SA 877 57.14 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
7 Matthew Hayden Aus 834 53.51 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
8 M.Jayawardena SL 810 51.93 844 v WI at Guyana 2008
9 Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
10 Kevin Pietersen Eng 795 49.55 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
11 Michael Clarke Aus 723 47.06 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
12 Graeme Smith SA 712 48.57 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
13 S.R.Tendulkar Ind 704 55.31 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
14 Rahul Dravid Ind 701 54.88 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
15 Andrew Symonds Aus 700* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
16 Andrew Strauss Eng 686 42.28 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
17 Virender Sehwag Ind 681 51.75 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
18 Sourav Ganguly Ind 674 42.71 713 v Aus at Adelaide 1999
19 VVS Laxman Ind 672 43.82 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
20 R.R.Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Points Avge Econ HS Rating
1 M.Muralidaran SL 897 21.95 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 Dale Steyn SA 892 21.60 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 Stuart Clark Aus 863*! 21.46 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 Brett Lee Aus 794 29.58 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
5 Makhaya Ntini SA 777 27.85 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 Ryan Sidebottom Eng 748*! 25.11 748 v NZ at Trent Bridge 2008
7 Chaminda Vaas SL 709 29.09 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
8 Anil Kumble Ind 708 29.06 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
9 Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 Shane Bond NZ 668* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 Monty Panesar Eng 647 31.99 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
13 Corey Collymore WI 621* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007
14 Zaheer Khan Ind 619 33.60 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 Matthew Hoggard Eng 618 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006
17 Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 Harbhajan Singh Ind 608 31.03 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
19 Andrew Flintoff Eng 603 32.02 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
20 Daniel Vettori NZ 591 34.43 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 495 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 324 360 v Eng at Lord's 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 (+2) Dwayne Bravo WI 295*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 (-1) Chaminda Vaas SL 294 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
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