Opportunity For England To Win Jackpot While Warner Jumps 35 Places In ICC Ranking

England will have a chance to the win the US$175,000 jackpot for topping the Reliance ICC Test Championship table when it goes head to head with Pakistan in a three-Test series starting in Dubai on Tuesday.

The award is presented on an annual basis to the side which finishes the Reliance ICC Test Championship table on the 1 April cut-off date.

England is currently on 125 ratings points and is ahead of its closest rivals, India and South Africa, by seven and eight ratings points, respectively.

With India all set to drop in the Championship table, which will be updated after the Adelaide Test, South Africa can rise to as high as 119 ratings points should it be successful in its series against New Zealand in New Zealand from 7-27 March.

However, England can put itself beyond South Africa’s reach by either winning a Test in the forthcoming series in the UAE or if it loses the series to Pakistan by a one Test margin.

In case of a 1-0 or 2-1 series loss, England will finish on 120 ratings points, one ahead of South Africa (assuming it wins 3-0 against New Zealand), while England’s 1-0 or 2-1 series win will mean it will retain its pre-series rating of 125 points.

Nevertheless, England will give South Africa a window of opportunity to top the table if it loses to Pakistan by 2-0 or more.

In the scenario of England losing 2-0 and South Africa winning 3-0, both the sides will be locked on 119 ratings points, but South Africa will be ranked above England by one tenth of a decimal point. And in the situation of England losing 3-0 and South Africa winning 3-0, then England will drop to 118 ratings points, while South Africa will finish on top at 119 ratings points.

The side that finishes second in the Reliance ICC Test Championship table on the 1 April cut-off date will receive US$75,000.

To find out exactly how the forthcoming Test series will affect the Championship table, please click here. The Test Championship table, unlike the ODI Championship table, is updated only after the end of the series.

Meanwhile, David Warner has made a big move in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, which were updated after the Perth Test.

The 27-year-old, who was adjudged man of the match for hitting joint the fourth fastest century in Test cricket, has jumped up 35 places and is now in 34th position.

Warner’s opening partner Ed Cowan and India’s Virat Kohli have also headed in the right direction.

Cowan, who scored 74 in his only innings, has gained 24 places and now sits in 58th position along with Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq, while Kohli’s contributions of 44 and 75 have provided him with a leap of 39 places, which puts him in 66th spot.

The batsmen losing ground after the Perth Test included Sachin Tendulkar in eighth (down by three), Michael Clarke in 11th (down by three), Mike Hussey in 14th (down by two), VVS Laxman in 21st (down by three), Virender Sehwag in 24th (down by two), Gautam Gambhir in 32nd (down by one), Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 40th (down by four), Brad Haddin in 42nd (down by three) and Shaun Marsh in 89th (down by three).

Australia’s fast bowler Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus have achieved career-best rakings after inspiring their side to an innings and 37 runs victory.

Siddle, who won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Johannesburg in 2009, had figures of three for 42 and three for 43 which have given him a lift of two places and puts him in fifth position.

Hilfenhaus had match figures of eight for 97, which have helped him break into the top 10 for the first time in his career. The 28-year-old Tasmanian has jumped five places to sixth position to trail Siddle by just 18 ratings points.

Hilfenhaus had entered the series in 31st position and has gained 25 positions so far after claiming taken 23 wickets at 16. Given that he is still in a qualification period for bowlers*, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder depending on how he performs in the fourth Test which starts in Adelaide on 24 January.

India’s Umesh Yadav is the other bowler to make an upward movement. The fast bowler claimed his maiden five-wicket haul which has helped him climb seven places to 43rd.

The bowlers’ list is headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn, while England’s James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad are second, third and fourth, respectively.

The Test player rankings will now be updated after the Dubai Test.

Test series finishing before the 1 April cut-off date:

Australia v India

24-28 Jan – Fourth Test, Adelaide

Pakistan v England

17-21 Jan – First Test, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

25-29 Jan – Second Test, Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

3-7 Feb – Third Test, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

New Zealand v Zimbabwe

26-30 Jan – One-off Test, Napier

New Zealand v South Africa

7-11 Mar – First Test, Dunedin

15-19 Mar – Second Test, Hamilton

23-27 Mar – Third Test, Wellington

Test series finishing after the 1 April cut-off date

Sri Lanka v England

26-30 Mar – First Test, Galle

3-7 April – Second Test, P.Sara Oval, Colombo

Reliance ICC Test Championship table (before the start of Pakistan and England Test series)

1-      England                       125

2-      India                            118

3-      South Africa                117

4-      Australia                      103

5-      Pakistan                        99

6-      Sri Lanka                      98

7-      West Indies                  88

8-      New Zealand                83

9-      Bangladesh                    4

(Zimbabwe will have to play eight Tests before it will have a ranking)

(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance ICC Test Rankings (after Perth Test and before the start of first Test between Pakistan and England)

Batsmen (top 20)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          Ave         HS Rating

1           ( – )          K.Sangakkara      SL           850         55.97     938 v Eng at Kandy 2007

2           ( – )          Jacques Kallis       SA           846         57.02     935 v NZ at Centurion 2007

3           ( – )          Alastair Cook       Eng         823         49.72     836 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011

4           ( – )          Ian Bell                  Eng         822!       49.28     822 v Ind at The Oval 2011

5           ( – )          AB de Villiers        SA           815!       49.42     815 v SL at Cape Town 2012

6           (+1)         Younus Khan       Pak         789         53.03     880 v SL at Lahore 2009

7           (+2)         Jonathan Trott     Eng         776*      57.79     856 v SL at Cardiff 2011

8           (+2)         T.Samaraweera   SL           775!       53.42     775 v SA at Cape Town 2012

9           (-3)          S.Tendulkar          Ind          774         55.71     898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002

10         (+1)         Kevin Pietersen    Eng         770         50.48     909 v WI at Headingley 2007

11         (-3)          Michael Clarke    Aus         768         48.39     855 v Eng at Headingley 2009

12         (+1)         S.Chanderpaul     WI          766         49.28     901 v NZ at Napier 2008

13         (+1)         Hashim Amla       SA           760         46.97     842 v Ind at Kolkata 2010

14         (-2)          Mike Hussey        Aus         753         51.40     921 v WI at Kingston 2008

15         ( – )          Rahul Dravid        Ind          734         52.62     892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005

16         ( – )          Graeme Smith      SA           731         49.42     843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010

17         ( – )          Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak         730         46.34     735 v SL at Sharjah 2011

18         (+1)         Darren Bravo       WI          683*!    52.50     683 v Ind at Mumbai 2011

19=       (+1)         Matt Prior              Eng         679         44.71     692 v Ind at Trent Bridge 2011

(+1)         Ross Taylor          NZ          679         40.81     775 v Pak at Wellington 2009

Other selected rankings

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          Ave         HS Rating

21         (-3)          VVS Laxman       Ind          673         46.17     781 v WI at Dominica 2011

22         (+1)         Ricky Ponting       Aus         653         52.51     942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006

23         (+1)         Azhar Ali               Pak         644*      42.00     658 v SL at Dubai 2011

24         (-2)          Virender Sehwag  Ind          640         50.93     866 v SL at Galle 2010

28         ( – )          Andrew Strauss    Eng         603         41.98     769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005

32         (-1)          Gautam Gambhir                Ind          588         45.93     886 v SL at Kanpur 2009

34         (+35)      David Warner       Aus         568*!    63.83     568 v Ind at Perth 2012

36         (-1)          Umar Akmal        Pak         560*      35.82     647 v Aus at Sydney 2010

38         ( – )          Taufeeq Umar     Pak         541*      40.86     703 v SA at Faisalabad 2003

40         (-4)          Mahendra Dhoni Ind          531         37.32     662 v SA at Kolkata 2010

42         (-3)          Brad Haddin        Aus         514         34.98     637 v WI at Perth 2009

45         (-1)          M.Hafeez              Pak         508*!    36.35     508 v Ban at Mirpur 2011

46         (-1)          Stuart Broad         Eng         505!       29.02     505 v Ind at The Oval 2011

53         (-1)          Eoin Morgan        Eng         446*      36.35     477 v Pak at Trent Bridge 2010

58=       (-1)          Asad Shafiq          Pak         420*      39.16     435 v NZ at Hamilton 2011

(+24)      Ed Cowan             Aus         420*!    41.50     420 v Ind at Perth 2012

66         (+39)      Virat Kohli            Ind          375*!    27.15     375 v Aus at Perth 2012

75         (-1)          Graeme Swann    Eng         338         23.52     418 v Ban at Chittagong 2010

84         (-1)          Ravi Bopara         Eng         306*      34.56     444 v WI at Chester-le-St 2009

85         (+1)         Peter Siddle           Aus         294!       16.71     294 v Ind at Perth 2012

89         (-3)          Shaun Marsh        Aus         277*      33.11     427 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2011

93         (-1)          Adnan Akmal      Pak         267*!    29.75     267 v Ban at Mirpur 2011

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          Avge      Econ      HS Rating

1           ( – )          Dale Steyn            SA           896         23.07     902 v SL at Centurion 2011

2           ( – )          James Anderson  Eng         811         30.57     813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011

3           ( – )          Graeme Swann    Eng         755         28.82     858 v Pak at Lord’s 2010

4           ( – )          Stuart Broad         Eng         744!       32.00     744 v Ind at The Oval 2011

5           (+2)         Peter Siddle           Aus         736!       29.75     736 v Ind at Perth 2012

6           (+5)         Ben Hilfenhaus    Aus         718*!    29.15     718 v Ind at Perth 2012

7           (-1)          Morne Morkel      SA           715         30.58     776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

8           (-3)          Zaheer Khan        Ind          705         31.64     752 v SA at Durban 2010

9           (-1)          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        678*      31.33     680 v WI at Mirpur 2011

10         (-1)          Rangana Herath  SL           660         34.33     681 v SA at Durban 2011

Other selected rankings

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          Avge      Econ      HS Rating

12         ( – )          Saeed Ajmal         Pak         645*      30.16     651 v Ban at Chittagong 2011

14         ( – )          Chris Tremlett      Eng         619*      25.67     638 v Ind at Lord’s 2011

16         (+2)         Umar Gul              Pak         594         33.24     627 v WI at Karachi 2006

19         ( – )          Abdur Rehman    Pak         586*!    30.98     586 v Ban at Mirpur 2011

25         (+1)         Steven Finn           Eng         547*      26.92     575 v SL at Lord’s 2011

27         (+1)         Ryan Harris          Aus         542*      22.02     562 v SA at Cape Town 2011

28         (-3)          Ishant Sharma     Ind          534         37.19     671 v WI at Dominica 2011

39         ( – )          Aizaz Cheema     Pak         394*!    24.78     394 v Ban at Mirpur 2011

43         (+7)         Umesh Yadav      Ind          360*      27.76     385 v Aus at Melbourne 2011

52         ( – )          Junaid Khan         Pak         293*      29.46     328 v SL at Dubai 2011

56         ( – )          Wahab Riaz         Pak         256*      34.11     312 v NZ at Hamilton 2011

62         ( – )          M.Hafeez              Pak         242*      39.00     271 v Zim at Bulawayo 2011

70         (+31)      Mitchell Starc       Aus         169*!    33.75     169 v Ind at Perth 2012

All-rounders (top five)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          HS Rating

1           ( – )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        404 /*!  404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011

2           ( – )          Jacques Kallis       SA           395        616 v Pak at Durban 2002

3           ( – )          Daniel Vettori       NZ          385        412 v Pak at Napier 2009

4           ( – )          Stuart Broad         Eng         376!       376 v Ind at The Oval 2011

5           ( – )          Shane Watson      Aus         357 /*   394 v SA at Johannesburg 2011

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs.

!indicates career-highest rating