Asif mines a rich seam in LG ICC Player Rankings

Mohammed Asif has equaled the record for the fewest matches taken by a Pakistan player to break into the top ten of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

The 24 year-old seam and swing bowler captured five wickets in a losing cause in the decisive match of his side's series in South Africa and that was enough to lift him three places in the rankings to eighth position.

Asif has taken just nine Tests to reach that lofty position and only two other Pakistan bowlers have broken into that elite group so quickly - fast bowling legend Waqar Younis and Pervez Sajjad, the left-arm spinner who played 19 Tests in the 1960s and 1970s

It is a phenomenal achievement by Asif, who took 19 wickets at 18.47 in the three-Test series against the Proteas, and it leaves him as Pakistan's top-ranked bowler as he has now moved past Shoaib Akhtar in the list.

However, Asif's continued rise - he now has 49 Test wickets at 20.12 each - represents just about the only piece of good news for Pakistan in the latest LG ICC Player Rankings.

Although Mohammad Yousuf remains in second place in the batting list, just behind Australia captain Ricky Ponting, both Younis Khan (down four places to 10th) and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (12th, down one) have lost ground.

Shoaib, absent from the third Test with a hamstring injury, has slipped three spots to 11th position in the bowling table while leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who along with Asif was Pakistan's workhorse during the series, remains unchanged in 13th place.

The news is better for South Africa, as might be expected given its five-wicket success in the third Test in Cape Town which secured a 2-1 series win.

Jacques Kallis, whose determined innings of 28 and 51 proved decisive in a low-scoring match, climbs two places to seventh in the batting ladder and he remains the Proteas' top-ranked player, ahead of the Ashwell Prince, up one spot to 11th position thanks to his vital unbeaten 59, one of only four scores of 50 or more in the match.

Kallis also took six wickets in the Test and that has helped boost his stock in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers and all-rounders. He now lies 25th in the bowling list, up two places, and has consolidated his lead in the all-rounder table, ahead of England's Andrew Flintoff and team-mate Shaun Pollock.

Graeme Smith is the third South Africa batsman inside the top 20, rising five places to 17th position on the strength of scores of 64 and 33.

The bowling list is still topped by Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran ahead of South Africa's Makhaya Ntini with India's Anil Kumble in third position and Shaun Pollock, rested for the Cape Town Test ahead of the one-day series to follow, lies fourth.

The series result has seen the positions of the two sides remain unaltered in the LG ICC Test Championship table with Pakistan still in third place and South Africa lying sixth, but there has been a change in the rating points of the two sides.

The Proteas have gained four points to draw level with fifth-placed Sri Lanka, although they still trail Mahela Jayawardene's line-up when the ratings are recalculated to three decimal points. Pakistan has lost four points and is now just one rating point ahead of fourth-placed India.

Australia still heads the table, 21 points ahead of England, in second spot, which is six points clear of Inzamam's side.

Test cricket now takes a back seat with the build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup and the tournament itself taking centre stage until the end of April. The next Test action will be on 17 May when England and the West Indies begin a four-Test series at Lord's in London.