England hope to turn tables

Added incentive for England ahead of Test series

Last updated: 8th July 2008

Jacques Kallis South Africa v Somerset Jun 08 (RIGHT SIZE)

Kallis: top all-rounder

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The ICC has updated its Test Championship table, with South Africa vaulting ahead of England in the standings two days ahead of the first Test at Lord's.

The annual update means that results pre-dating August 2005 have been discarded, with South Africa's recent improvements seeing them move up from fourth in the table to second.

In contrast, England have dropped down one position to fourth. Australia top the table while India have fallen one place to third.

However, they could regain second spot if England beat South Africa in the four-match series which starts at HQ on Thursday.

Australia's 23-point lead means they will stay top even if South Africa were to beat England 4-0 this summer - an unlikely result in a series expected to be highly competitive.

A draw or better for South Africa will ensure they stay second at the end of next month.

England would need to win by at least two matches to go back above South Africa, but only a 4-0 success would be enough for Michael Vaughan's side to overtake India too.

Well-represented

Meanwhile, both England and South Africa remain well-represented in the top 20 individual player rankings.

Among the batsmen, the tourists' Jacques Kallis is sixth and captain Graeme Smith 12th, while for England, South African-born pair Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss are 10th and 16th respectively.

South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn is close to replacing Muttiah Muralitharan at the top of the bowlers' rankings, and Makhaya Ntini is fifth.

England have four bowlers in the top 20 - although two of them, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff, will not be in action at Lord's.

Kallis is the world's top all-rounder, with Flintoff third.