Fourth-ranked England will aim to improve its position on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings when it takes on second-ranked South Africa in a four-Test series starting at Lord’s on Thursday, 6 July.
England is presently sitting on 99 points as compared to South Africa’s 117 points. To move ahead of Australia in third place, England will need to win the series by 1-0 or better, while a 4-0 win will put it in second place on 108 points – 15 points behind number-one ranked India.
In contrast, South Africa, which presently trails India by six points, can narrow the gap with India to just one point but to make it happen, it will have to win all the four Tests. On the other side of the coin, if the Proteas side loses all four Tests, then it will drop to third on 106 points.
On a head to head, England will start the series as the favourite as it enjoys a 58-32 advantage over South Africa with 55 Tests ending in draws. In England, the two sides have played 64 Tests, out of which England has won 27 and South Africa 13, with 24 Tests ending in draws. That said, South Africa enjoys a 6-3 advantage over England in England this decade with three matches ending in draws.
The Test team rankings, unlike the ODI and T20I rankings, are updated after the end of the series and the Test predictor function is available here.
Joe Root in his debut series as England captain, will start as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third place Joe Root in his debut series as England captain, will start as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third place.
Meanwhile, Joe Root in his debut series as England captain, will start as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third place on the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsman.
Root is 32 points behind second ranked Kane Williamson, but a strong performance in the Lord’s Test can potentially move him ahead of his New Zealand opposite number. In contrast, his South Africa counterpart, Dean Elgar, who will captain in place of Faf du Plessis, will begin in 19th position and can move up the order depending how he performs at Lord’s.
Apart from the two captains, both the sides boast two batsmen each inside the top 20. For England, Jonny Bairstow is ranked 11th and Alistair Cook is 13th, while Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla of South Africa are ranked sixth and ninth respectively.
Outside the top 20 and aiming to improve their rankings are Moeen Ali (24th), Ben Stokes (36th), JP Duminy (38th) and Temba Bavuma (45th).
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, England’s James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and Kagiso Rabada of South Africa will start in fifth, sixth and seventh places, respectively. The three speedsters are separated by 12 points and will aim to finish inside the top three by the time the series concludes in Manchester on 8 August.
South Africa, which presently trails India by six points, can narrow the gap with India to just one point South Africa, which presently trails India by six points, can narrow the gap with India to just one point
Three spinners lead the bowling table, with Ravindra Jadeja at the top and followed by Ravichandran Ashwin and Rangana Herath. Australia’s Josh Hazlewood is fourth, 16 points ahead of Anderson.
Bowlers outside the top 10 are Vernon Philander (11th), Morne Morkel (14th), Stokes (20th), Chris Woakes (25th) and Moeen Ali (28th) and Keshav Maharaj (38th).
England’s Stokes is the fourth-ranked all-rounder in the list which is headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan. South Africa’s highest-ranked all-rounder is Duminy in 13th place.
Series schedule:
6-10 July – 1st Test, Lord’s
14-18 July – 2nd Test, Trent Bridge
27-31 July – 3rd Test, The Oval
4-8 Aug – 4th Test, Old Trafford
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 5 July, before the start of England v South Africa Test series):
Rank Team Points
1 India 123
2 South Africa 117
3 Australia 100
4 England 99
5 New Zealand 97
6 Pakistan 93
7 Sri Lanka 91
8 West Indies 75
9 Bangladesh 69
10 Zimbabwe 00
(By David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 July, before the start of England v South Africa Test series):
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Steve Smith Aus 941! 61.05 941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017
2 Kane Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
3 Joe Root Eng 848 52.80 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 C. Pujara Ind 846 51.32 861 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
5 Virat Kohli Ind 818 49.41 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017
6 Quinton de Kock SA 802*! 51.26 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017
7 Azhar Ali Pak 769 46.86 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
8 David Warner Aus 759 47.42 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
9 Hashim Amla SA 748 49.39 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
10 Lokesh Rahul Ind 739*! 44.44 739 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017
11 Jonny Bairstow Eng 731 41.27 759 v Ind at Mohali 2016
12 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 726 46.07 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
13 Alastair Cook Eng 720 46.45 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
14 Usman Khawaja Aus 718 47.94 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017
15 Ross Taylor NZ 705 47.10 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
16 Faf du Plessis SA 690 44.92 710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014
17 Angelo Mathews SL 688 46.08 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
18 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 676! 40.92 676 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2017
19 Dean Elgar SA 669 39.25 740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017
20 Tamim Iqbal Ban 654 39.53 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010
BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 898 23.12 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
2 R. Ashwin Ind 865 25.22 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
3 Rangana Herath SL 854 27.87 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
4 Josh Hazlewood Aus 826 25.39 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
5 James Anderson Eng 810 28.50 884 v SL at Durham 2016
6 Stuart Broad Eng 803 28.54 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
7 Kagiso Rabada SA 798* 23.69 821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
8 Dale Steyn SA 794 22.30 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
9 Neil Wagner NZ 745 28.90 767 v SA at Dunedin 2017
10 Mitchell Starc Aus 742 28.35 805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016
11 Vernon Philander SA 738 22.39 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
12 Trent Boult NZ 732 28.75 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
13 Yasir Shah Pak 698 29.91 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
14 Morne Morkel SA 693 29.21 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
15 Tim Southee NZ 687 31.55 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
16 Dilruwan Perera SL 652* 28.58 674 v Zim at Harare 2016
17 Nathan Lyon Aus 644 33.39 696 v NZ at Wellington 2016
18 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 638 33.02 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
19 Shannon Gabriel WI 588* 33.59 600 v Pak at Barbados 2017
20 Ben Stokes Eng 576* 34.46 589 v Ind at Mohali 2016
Rank Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 431 443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017
2 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 422! 422 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017
3 R. Ashwin Ind 413 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
4 Ben Stokes Eng 327 /* 351 v Ind at Mohali 2016
5 Mitchell Starc Aus 318 347 v Ind at Pune 2017
