19 May 2015 | Cricket
England and New Zealand will face off in a two-Test series at Lord's on Thursday with one eye on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings.
Fifth-ranked England trails third-ranked New Zealand by two points and both sides will retain their pre-series rankings if the series ends in a stalemate. However, there will be changes in the middle of the table if either side wins the series.
If New Zealand comes out on top, then it will retain its third position but England will drop to seventh. In contrast, if England wins the series, then it will rise to third position while New Zealand will slip to seventh spot.
This is due to the fact that four sides are bunched together in the middle of the table with just three points separating New Zealand from seventh-ranked Sri Lanka.
The Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings predictor function is available here. The Test rankings table, unlike the ODI & T20I tables, is updated after the series.
Meanwhile, in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, New Zealand's Kane Williamson and England's Joe Root will be aiming to break into the top five.
Williamson is currently sitting in sixth spot, two points behind Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, while Root is eighth, another 17 points behind.
Other batsmen from either side aiming for upward movements include Ross Taylor (13th), Brendon McCullum (15th), Gary Ballance (20th), Alastair Cook (24th), Ian Bell (31st), BJ Watling (40th) and Tom Latham (51st).
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, England's James Anderson, in second position, is the highest-ranked bowler from either side. The Lancastrian will aim to consolidate his position, which, in turn, will help him to narrow the gap with number-one ranked Dale Steyn.
Stuart Broad is the other England bowler inside the top 10 in eighth position, while New Zealand also has two fast bowlers in Trent Boult (sixth) and Tim Southee (ninth) who feature in that top 10 list.
Broad is England's highest-ranked all-rounder, sitting in fifth position, while Southee is New Zealand's best all-rounder in 10th spot.
Schedule:
21-25 May - 1st Test, Lord's
29 May-2 June - 2nd Test, Leeds
RELIANCE ICC TEST RANKINGS (as on 19 May, before the start of England-New Zealand series)
Rank Team Points
1 South Africa 130
2 Australia 108
3 New Zealand 99
4 India 99
5 England 97
6 Pakistan 97
7 Sri Lanka 96
8 West Indies 84
9 Bangladesh 39
10 Zimbabwe 5