England eyes second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship; 3-0 victory over New Zealand will see Vaughan’s side jump two places past India and SA; opportunities for Sidebottom, Pietersen, Martin and Vettori in player rankings

England can move to second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table if it beats New Zealand 3-0 in the upcoming series that gets underway at Lord’s on Thursday.

Currently in fourth position, Michael Vaughan’s team can overtake South Africa and India if it sweeps past the Black Caps in the three-match series. England, which fell from second place following its 1-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka late last year, now has the opportunity to make amends.

With just five ratings points separating India in second position and Sri Lanka in fifth, the table is very congested but with England being the only team of that foursome in action before July, the opportunity is there for it to make its mark.

With seven Test matches scheduled for England during this Northern Hemisphere summer the home side could in theory move to within 15 ratings points of leader Australia from the current gap of 33 points if results go its way.

However, New Zealand has opportunities of its own in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship. Currently in seventh position, Daniel Vettori’s men will move ahead of Pakistan into sixth place if it wins the series. And if it manages to win all three Tests, it will break the 100-point mark and move it to within three of England, which in turn would drop to fifth.

As ever, the England v New Zealand series presents opportunities for individuals to progress up the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings. England has four squad members in the top 20 of the batting rankings so Kevin Pietersen (10th place), Alistair Cook (16th), Ian Bell (joint-17th) and Paul Collingwood (20th) are all nicely placed to make further moves up the ladder.

On the bowling front, if Ryan Sidebottom can continue his remarkable run of form he should be able to get up as high as eighth position from his current spot in 10th place. Matthew Hoggard (12th) and Monty Panesar (16th) can also improve while New Zealand’s Chris Martin in 18th place will be doing his best to thwart the England batsmen.

The Kiwi captain Vettori is sitting just outside the top 20 bowlers in 23rd position and is also New Zealand’s highest ranked batsman in 30th place. He can also close the gap on South Africa’s Jacques Kallis at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders.

England v New Zealand Test series

15-19 May – First Test, Lord’s, London

23-27 May – Second Test, Manchester

5-9 Jun – Third Test, Nottingham