With the two teams similarly ranked batting-wise, bowling could be the key to unlocking this series with Strauss’s attack having the edge
After plenty of ODI cricket over the past few weeks attention now shifts to the highest form of the game as the West Indies hosts England for four Test matches in the Caribbean.
The first match gets underway in Kingston, Jamaica on Wednesday with England ranked in fifth place on the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table and the West Indies currently lying in seventh position.
The home side is under pressure from New Zealand as the West Indies remains just ahead of Daniel Vettori’s men by a fraction of a ratings point. If the West Indies loses the series by two matches or more it will fall to eighth position.
The stakes are high for England, too, as it could fall below Pakistan to sixth spot if it loses the series 2-0, 3-1 or worse.
Victory for the side led by Andrew Strauss will keep Sri Lanka on its toes and with a busy Test year ahead for England, which includes a home series against the West Indies as well as the Ashes before embarking on a tour of South Africa before the end of 2009, there will be plenty of opportunities for England to push further up the ladder.
Meanwhile, there are several players who will be looking to advance their progress up the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings over the next few weeks. On the batting front, the two sides look quite evenly matched, each with two players in the top 20.
ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2008 Shivnarine Chanderpaul is still in the number-one position while his team-mate, Chris Gayle, will be looking to improve upon his current position of 19th spot.
England’s Kevin Pietersen is in fourth position while Strauss is in 15th, not far behind the South Africa pair of Ashwell Prince (14th) and Jacques Kallis (13th) as well as India’s Virender Sehwag in 12th place.
However, the picture is less balanced when looking at the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. England currently has four players in the top 20 compared to just one from the West Indies.
That player, however, is Jamaican Jerome Taylor in 17th place and he will no doubt be looking to impress his home crowd in Sabina Park over the next few days. He is only a whisker behind two of his opponents, Monty Panesar in 15th position and Andrew Flintoff in 14th.
But with James Anderson (in 19th position) and Ryan Sidebottom (in sixth) also in the visitor’s squad, England is, on paper anyway, significantly stronger in that department.
Top of the bowling rankings is still Sri Lanka’s spinner Muttiah Muralidaran followed by Dale Steyn of South Africa and the Australia pair of Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson.
Upcoming fixtures:
4-8 Feb – West Indies v England (Test), Jamaica
13-17 Feb – West Indies v England (Test), Antigua
26 Feb-2 Mar – West Indies v England (Test), Barbados
6-10 Mar – West Indies v England (Test), Trinidad
Previews of future series as they relate to the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings and ICC Test Championship will be issued in due course.
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 3 February)
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 126
2 South Africa 121
3 India 118
4 Sri Lanka 109
5 England 103
6 Pakistan 98
7 West Indies 81
8 New Zealand 81
9 Bangladesh 0
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 3 February)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 S.Chanderpaul WI 900 ! 49.71 900 v NZ at Napier 2008
2 Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
3 K.Sangakkara SL 859 54.37 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
4 Kevin Pietersen Eng 832 50.48 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
5 Michael Clarke Aus 825! 49.40 825 v SA at Sydney 2009
6 M. Jayawardena SL 819 52.36 854 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
7 Ricky Ponting Aus 810 56.87 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
8 Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 Graeme Smith SA 797 50.57 810 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
10 G Gambhir Ind 771*! 49.35 771 v Eng at Mohali 2008
11 Mike Hussey Aus 761 59.36 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
12 Virender Sehwag Ind 729 51.06 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
13 Jacques Kallis SA 726 54.57 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
14 Ashwell Prince SA 709 45.68 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
15 Andrew Strauss Eng 705 42.37 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
16= Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.27 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
VVS Laxman Ind 683 44.45 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
18 Hashim Amla SA 671! 41.30 671 v Aus at Sydney 2009
19= Chris Gayle WI 670! 39.60 670 v NZ at Napier 2008
Simon Katich Aus 670! 43.43 670 v SA at Sydney 2009
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 M.Muralidaran SL 887 21.95 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 Dale Steyn SA 845 23.08 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 Stuart Clark Aus 782* 22.96 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 Mitchell Johnson Aus 756* 28.62 779 v SA at Perth 2008
5 Makhaya Ntini SA 755 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 Ryan Sidebottom Eng 723* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
7 Chaminda Vaas SL 689 29.22 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
8 Harbhajan Singh Ind 686 30.88 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
9 Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 Brett Lee Aus 673 30.81 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
11 Daniel Vettori NZ 653 33.09 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
12 Zaheer Khan Ind 630 34.04 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
13 Shane Bond NZ 629* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
14 Andrew Flintoff Eng 621 32.12 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
15= Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
Monty Panesar Eng 619 32.88 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
17 Jerome Taylor WI 618* 35.14 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
18 Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
19 James Anderson Eng 611 35.22 622 v Ind at Chennai 2008
20 Jacques Kallis SA 589 31.12 742 v Eng at Headingley 2003
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Points HS Rating
1 Jacques Kallis SA 428 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 347 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 Andrew Flintoff Eng 305 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 Chaminda Vaas SL 284 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
5 Dwayne Bravo WI 283 /* 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
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