Bell rings the changes in Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings

England right-hander now at career-best 13th in listing; Pietersen up to seventh spot Steyn misses chance to go top of bowling ladder but Morkel into top 50; Anderson on brink of top 20 placing Prince, MacKenzie and Amla all close to top 20 slots in the batting list How the series result will affect the Reliance Mobile Test Championship table

Ian Bell has chimed into the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

The England right-hander rattled off a Test-best 199 in the drawn encounter with South Africa at Lord’s and that has seen him climb nine spots in the rankings to 13th place, alongside Sachin Tendulkar of India.

It is his highest-ever ranking and it means England now has three batsmen in the top 20 listings.

Highest-placed of the trio is Kevin Pietersen, whose 152 has seen him rise three spots to seventh position, his highest placing this year.

The other England player among that elite group is opener Andrew Strauss, slotting in at 17th in the list, a drop of one place for the left-hander.

South Africa still retains the top ranked batsman among the two sides, Jacques Kallis in sixth position, but the gap between him and Pietersen is a small one and there is every chance of the two swapping places if they repeat their Lord’s performances in the second match, at Headingley, starting on Friday.

Indeed, there is every chance of a ding-dong battle between the duo during the rest of this series to decide which of them is placed higher in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings come the end of the fourth Test at The Oval.

Captain Graeme Smith, a centurion in the Lord’s Test with 107, is the other Proteas player among the top 20 batsmen, in 12th position, but he and Kallis could soon be joined by three team-mates.

Ashwell Prince, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla were all hundred-makers in London and they now sit in 21st, 24th and 26th positions respectively.

The batting list is still headed by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, ahead of the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mike Hussey of Australia and his captain Ricky Ponting, along with Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan, the latter two sharing fourth position.

Dale Steyn has missed an opportunity to topple Muttiah Muralidaran from the head of the Reliance Mobile Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

Steyn started the Lord’s Test within touching distance of the peak after an outstanding run of form but figures of 1-117 in the Test means he has slipped back and is now only just clear of Australia’s Stuart Clark, who occupies third position.

Ryan Sidebottom remains England’s highest-placed bowler, climbing one position to fifth slot, overtaking Makhaya Ntini (0-130 at Lord’s) in the process.

Monty Panesar holds firm in eleventh place while Andrew Flintoff, recalled to the England squad for the second Test, may well have a chance to improve on his 19th spot.

Just outside that top 20, England’s James Anderson continues to climb, up four places to 22nd position while further down the list, South Africa quick Morne Morkel has broken into the top 50 for the first time, up 10 places to 46th place after taking 4-121.

In the all-rounder listing, Kallis remains top, clear of Daniel Vettori of New Zealand, but the South African may start to feel some pressure from third-placed Flintoff if the England man is selected in the final eleven for the Headingley Test.

The remaining matches in Test series between England and South Africa are as follows:
18 – 22 July – second Test, Headingley, Leeds

30 July – 3 August – third Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham

7 – 11 August – Fourth Test, The Oval, London

LG ICC Test Championship (for series completed up to 1 August 2006, table updates at the end of each series)

* Figures in brackets denote positions and ratings of teams prior to the annual update

Note 1: Zimbabwe has a rating of 19 but has not played sufficient Tests over the period covered to be ranked on the main table

(Developed by David Kendix)

Possible series permutations:

• To retain second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table, South Africa needs to avoid defeat in the series against England.

• If England wins the series 1-0 or 2-1, then India and South Africa will swap places.

• A win for England by 2-0, 3-1 or 3-0 will leave India second, but see England go third, with South Africa slipping back to fourth.

• If the series is tied, South Africa and India would be level on 113 points but the Proteas would retain second place when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

• If England wins 1-0 or 2-1, it would be locked with South Africa on 110 points but, again, South Africa would be the side placed higher in the table, again when the rating is calculated past the decimal point. This scenario would see India in second place.

For more information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.iccreliancerankings.com