Australia clings on to first place after annual update

But Ricky Ponting's men must win both remaining Ashes Tests to stay there; India drops one place as Sri Lanka's record speaks for itself Just five ratings points separate top four teams Clarke moves up to third position in Test batting rankings as Ponting falls to ninth

Australia has retained number-one spot on the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table after the annual update but is now just two ratings points clear of South Africa.

The result of the ongoing Ashes series will only reflect on the table at the end of the final Test in September as the Test Championship can only be updated at the end of each series. As such Ricky Ponting's team needs to win the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley and the final one at The Oval if it is to stay at the top of the table ? otherwise it will be Graeme Smith's turn to lead the number-one Test team in the world.

The annual update is carried out to ensure the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table continues to reflect recent form with older results being discarded.

The table reflects all Test series that were completed since August three years ago. All series played until the start of next August will be added to this table, so by then the ratings will be based on four years of results, with series completed within the last two years carrying greater weight.

Next August the first year of results will be dropped and this pattern is repeated each August, with the oldest of the four years of results removed to be gradually replaced with results of series completed over the following 12 months.

Thus, once a year, the rankings change overnight without any new series being completed. There are now just five ratings points separating Australia in first place from India in fourth, indicating how competitive the world of Test cricket has become.

No matter how the Ashes finishes, England will remain in fifth position but if the home side wins the series, Australia will drop to fourth position in the Test Championship table. If the series ends in a 1-1 draw, Australia, Sri Lanka and India will all have the same rating, but with Australia still clinging on to second place by a decimal point. Australia has led the Test rankings ever since the current method was introduced in May 2003.

Speaking of India, the annual update has not benefited Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team as it slips down one position to fourth position albeit by the narrowest possible margin ? 0.01 of a ratings point ? behind Sri Lanka. The progress of Kumar Sangakkara's team in the team rankings is due to a consistently high performance during the period of the rankings. In that time, the team has played 10 series, winning six, drawing three and losing just one (in Australia).

However, with New Zealand heading to Sri Lanka this month for a two-Test series, there is potential for imminent change.

The Black Caps gained one place in the annual update, moving ahead of the West Indies into seventh position and fifth-placed England will definitely now improve on their 99 ratings points once the table is updated after the Ashes even if it was to lose the remaining two Tests. Pakistan loses ground on England after some excellent results it had achieved in 2005-06 have now expired and dropped off the rankings calculations.

Meanwhile, there is mixed news for Australia's players in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen as Michael Clarke rises two places to third position but captain Ricky Ponting slips two spots to ninth. Unlike the Test Championship table, the player rankings are updated after each match.

Clarke's match-saving century in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test, which concluded on Monday, was enough to move him ahead of West Indies stalwart Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf.

Two below-average scores for Ponting mean that Graeme Smith of South Africa and Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardena move ahead of the 34-year-old Tasmanian in the latest rankings.

Outside the top 20, Australia's Marcus North continues his rise up the rankings as he gains 13 places to 46th position following his 96 in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test. Shane Watson's two half-centuries in the match were enough to earn him 22 spots as he rises to 95th position.

The list is still headed by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka with India's Gautam Gambhir in second position.

Andrew Flintoff has slipped four places in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after failing to take a wicket in the Edgbaston Test. He does, however, manage to gain one place in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders after his quick-fire 74 with the bat in the first innings.

The number-one all-rounder is still Jacques Kallis of South Africa with Mitchell Johnson of Australia second and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori third.

The bowling list still has South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn at the top with Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran occupying second place

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 4 August 2009, after the annual update)| Rank | Team | Rating || --- | --- | --- || 1 | Australia | 124 || 2 | South Africa | 122 || 3 | Sri Lanka | 119 || 4 | India | 119 || 5 | England | 99 || 6 | Pakistan | 84 || 7 | New Zealand | 82 || 8 | West Indies | 76 || 9 | Bangladesh | 13 |Note: Zimbabwe is now unrated, having played no Test cricket throughout the rating period.ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 4 August, after third Ashes Test)| Batsmen || --- || Rank | Player | Team | Points | Ave | HS Rating || 1 | K Sangakkara | SL | 862 | 55.42 | 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007 || 2 | Gautam Gambhir | Ind | 847! | 54.07 | 847 v NZ at Wellington 2009 || 3 | Michael Clarke | Aus | 826! | 50.08 | 826 v Eng at Edgbaston 2009 || 4 | S Chanderpaul | WI | 821 | 49.28 | 901 v NZ at Napier 2008 || 5 | Mohd Yousuf | Pak | 818 | 54.86 | 933 v WI at Karachi 2006 || 6 | Younus Khan | Pak | 801 | 50.09 | 880 v SL at Lahore 2009 || 7 | Graeme Smith | SA | 782 | 50.33 | 810 v Aus at Melbourne 2008 || 8 | M Jayawardena | SL | 777 | 52.61 | 854 v Ban at Dhaka 2008 || 9 | Ricky Ponting | Aus | 767 | 55.96 | 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006 || 10 | Jacques Kallis | SA | 755 | 54.66 | 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007 || Bowlers || Rank | Player | Team | Points | PAve | HS Rating || 1 | Dale Steyn | SA | 844 | 23.70 | 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008 || 2 | M Muralidaran | SL | 830 | 22.18 | 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007 || 3 | Mitchell Johnson | Aus | 770 | 29.38 | 825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009 || 4 | Makhaya Ntini | SA | 741 | 28.37 | 863 v Ind at Durban 2006 || 5 | Stuart Clark | Aus | 737* | 22.96 | 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008 || 6 | Harbhajan Singh | Ind | 735 | 30.42 | 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002 || 7 | James Anderson | Eng | 710! | 33.70 | 710 v Aus at Edgbaston 2009 || 8 | Paul Harris | SA | 669*! | 32.60 | 669 v Aus at Cape Town 2009 || 9 | Zaheer Khan | Ind | 650 | 33.84 | 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007 || 10 | Brett Lee | Aus | 634 | 30.81 | 811 v WI at Antigua 2008 || All-Rounders || Rank | Player | Team | Points | Ave | HS Rating || 1 | Jacques Kallis | SA | 455 | 616 v Pak at Durban 2002 || 2 | Mitchell Johnson | Aus | 353*/ | 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009 || 3 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 350 | 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008 || 4 | Andrew Flintoff | Eng | 286 | 501 v Pak at Multan 2005 || 5 | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 282*/*! | 282 v WI at St George's 2009 |*Indicates a provisional ratingFor information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.reliancemobileiccrankings.com.