Two into one doesn't go. That's what captains Graeme Smith of South Africa and Australia's Ricky Ponting must have realised as they posed with the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship mace on Tuesday. The two teams are vying for the number one ranking in Test cricket and the mace that goes with it but only one of them will walk away with that prize at the end of the three-match series that starts in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Fast bowler Vernon Philander has achieved a career-best second position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after inspiring South Africa to a 51-run victory over England in the third Test at Lord's, which gave the Proteas a 2-0 series win, and, with it, the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Test Championship table.
Australia's Steven Smith has become the second youngest batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to achieve the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following stellar batting in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.
The 27-year-old Australian pacer gained four places in the ICC Players' rankings and moved to No 8 after match figures of 5-85 in Australia's victory over New Zealand in the second Test.
Virat Kohli's Indian team will be aiming for another comprehensive show against a depleted Australia when the two sides square-off in the opening encounter of the five-match series, in Chennai, on Saturday.
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