In line to become first England batsman in nine years since Vaughan to top batting charts
Alastair Cook is in line to become the first England batsman since 2003 to top the Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings when his side takes on India in the fourth and last cricket Test which starts in Nagpur from Thursday.
Captain Cook is currently ranked fourth in the table with 874 points, just five behind number-one ranked Shivnarine Chanderpaul. And although Michael Clarke is just one rating point behind Chanderpaul, Cook will have the first crack on the number-one ranking as his Test finishes a day before the Australia-Sri Lanka Test, which begins in Hobart on Friday, 14 December.
With Cook having already scored 548 runs at an healthy average of 109.6 in the series so far, there is a strong possibility of him achieving the coveted number-one ranking for the first time in his career.
The last England batsman to top the batting table was former England captain Michael Vaughan who surged to the top at the conclusion of the fifth and last Ashes Test in Sydney on 6 January 2003. In that match, Vaughan scored zero and 183 as England won by 225 runs. Vaughan finished with 633 runs, including three hundreds in that Ashes series and was voted player of the series.
The other England batsmen to top the batting table are Graham Gooch in June 1994 and David Gower in February 1986.
At the age of 40, Gooch became the oldest to hold the top spot in the batting charts since Jack Hobbs in 1928. The oldest to be the number-one ranked batsman ever was WG Grace in 1897 at the age of 49.
History on the cards
Cook has an opportunity to create history not just with his batting but also by hoping to achieve England’s first Test series win in India since 1984-85. England currently leads the four-match series 2-1.
While England is in line to create history in India, it can also retain the number-two spot on the Reliance ICC Test Championship table if it either wins or draws the final Test at Nagpur.
If England was to win the final Test match it will gain a maximum of two ratings points to end at 119, while a draw would fetch it one ratings point (118).
Consequently, if India was to level the series in Nagpur, England could slip to third place with a loss of two ratings point at 115. But this would happen only if Australia beats Sri Lanka by a margin of 3-0, as it would gain two ratings points and the second place.
South Africa is the clear leader of the Reliance ICC Test Championship table with 123 ratings points.
The Reliance ICC Test Championship table will be updated at the end of the Nagpur Test.
The player rankings will be updated at the end of the Nagpur and Hobart Tests.
Australia v Sri Lanka Test Series Schedule:
14-18 Dec-1st Test, Bellerive Oval, Hobart
26-30 Dec-2nd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
3-7 Jan 2013-3rd Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Reliance ICC Test Championship table (as on 12 December)
Rank Team Points
1. South Africa 123
2. England 117
3. Australia 114
4. Pakistan 109
5. India 106
6. Sri Lanka 96
7. West Indies 91
8. New Zealand 79
9. Bangladesh 0
Zimbabwe is currently unranked, as it has played insufficient matches. It has 167 points and a rating of 42.
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 12 December ahead of the Nagpur and Hobart Tests)
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Ranking
1 S.Chanderpaul WI 879 51.67 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
2 Michael Clarke Aus 878 51.72 890 v SA at Adelaide 2012
3 Hashim Amla SA 875 50.69 876 v Aus at Brisbane 2012
4 Alastair Cook Eng 874! 50.02 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
5 K Sangakkara SL 848 55.89 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
6 Jacques Kallis SA 823 56.92 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
7 AB de Villiers SA 808 49.11 821 v Eng at The Oval 2012
8 Ross Taylor NZ 785! 43.57 785 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2012
9 Kevin Pietersen Eng 771 49.56 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
10 Younus Khan Pak 761 51.69 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
11 Azhar Ali Pak 753! 45.27 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
12 Graeme Smith SA 749 49.53 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
13 Mike Hussey Aus 728 50.44 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
14 Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 720 45.68 771 v Eng at Abu Dhabi 2012
15 T Samaraweera SL 703 50.78 775 v SA at Cape Town 2012
16 Matt Prior Eng 689 43.01 698 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2012
17 M Jayawardena SL 682 50.18 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
18 Jonathan Trott Eng 671 47.98 856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
19 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 669 54.50 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
20 Marlon Samuels WI 668! 37.36 668 v Ban at Khulna 2012
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Ranking
1 Dale Steyn SA 880 23.79 902 v SL at Centurion 2011
2= Rangana Herath SL 838! 29.67 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
Vernon Philander SA 838* 17.98 852 v Eng at Lord’s 2012
4 Saeed Ajmal Pak 832 27.09 836 v SL at Galle 2012
5 Pragyan Ojha Ind 773*! 30.45 773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
6 Graeme Swann Eng 748 29.18 858 v Pak at Lord’s 2010
7= James Anderson Eng 745 30.53 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
Morne Morkel SA 745 30.20 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
9 Ben Hilfenhaus Aus 744* 28.48 757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
10 Peter Siddle Aus 733 29.89 768 v Ind at Adelaide 2012
11 Abdur Rehman Pak 704* 28.40 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
12 Kemar Roach WI 698* 27.69 712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
13 Stuart Broad Eng 663 31.93 783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
14 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 641 32.53 680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
15 Zaheer Khan Ind 631 32.35 752 v SA at Durban 2010
16 Steven Finn Eng 617* 28.22 621 v SA at Lord’s 2012
17 Chris Martin NZ 604 33.97 669 v SA at Hamilton 2012
18 Umar Gul Pak 584 33.66 642 v Eng at Dubai 2012
19 Tim Southee NZ 572*! 35.04 572 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2012
20 Mitchell Johnson Aus 571 31.17 825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Pts HS Ranking
1 Jacques Kallis SA 388 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 387 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3 Shane Watson Aus 314/* 394 v SA at Johannesburg 2011
4 Daniel Vettori NZ 296 412 v Pak at Napier 2009
5= Graeme Swann Eng 273 327 v Ban at Chittagong 2010
Stuart Broad Eng 273 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
