England clean-sweep could see them top LG ICC Test Championship

A 3-0 series win for England in Pakistan could see them take over at the top of the LG ICC Test Championship table.

Admittedly, that result would have to be combined with current leaders Australia losing both remaining Tests in their current series against the West Indies, but it does serve to show how England are closing the gap on Ricky Ponting's side.

The difference between the two sides at the top of the LG ICC Test Championship table is currently eight points, with Australia on 127 and England on 119.

If England win all three Tests against Inzamam-ul-Haq's side they will move to 122 points while Australia will drop to 121 points if they lose the forthcoming Tests in Hobart and Adelaide.

To illustrate how England have reduced Australia's lead in the table, the gap between them ahead of this year's Ashes series was 20 points and it was reduced to its current level thanks to the 2-1 success by Michael Vaughan's side in the five-Test series.

Pakistan have also got plenty of incentive to do well in the forthcoming Tests. Any sort of series win will lift them above Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa into fourth place in the table, just behind India, who they face at home in the new year.

Pakistan victories in all three matches against England will lift them to a rating of 105 points and will also reduce England's rating to 112, level with India, who face Sri Lanka in a three-Test series in December.

Three players in the forthcoming series feature among the top ten batsmen in the LG ICC Test batting rankings.

Marcus Trescothick, who appears set to take over as England captain if Vaughan fails to recover from a knee injury, is seventh in the list and his opening partner Andrew Strauss is two places below him. Both players are closing on their highest ever ratings.

For Pakistan, Inzamam is their leading batsman in eighth position, while Younis Khan (12th) and Mohammad Yousuf (18th) are also in the top 20.

England's middle-order power-players, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, are lying in 24th and 25th places respectively and a repeat of the form they showed against Australia earlier this year would see them make rapid moves up the list.

Flintoff, who became the top-ranked Test all-rounder thanks to his performance in the Johnnie Walker Super Series Test against Australia in Sydney in October, is the leading bowler taking part in the Pakistan-England series, in fourth place in the table.

Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar is in seventh spot, Matthew Hoggard is two places below him (with his best ever rating) and hovering just outside the top ten, at 13th position, is Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

Kaneria, expected to have a crucial role to play in the outcome of the series, is another player who is currently enjoying his best ever rating. England's leading slow bowler, Ashley Giles, is 26th in the bowling rankings.

Full details of the current LG ICC Test Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here