Pietersen becomes seventh highest rated England batsman of all time in latest LG ICC Test Player Rankings

England may have lost the Ashes but it's not all doom and gloom for it as Kevin Pietersen has become the highest rated England batsman for more than 40 years and the seventh highest of all time, according to the latest LG ICC Test Player Rankings.

The 26-year-old has been a consistent performer so far in the series, making 398 runs in six innings at an average of 79.60. That good form has moved him ahead of Michael Vaughan's best rating of 876 points, achieved during the 2002/3 Ashes series.

Pietersen is now the seventh highest rated England batsman of all time, just one point behind Wally Hammond whose career best rating came during the 1933 tour of New Zealand that followed the Bodyline series in Australia..

Pietersen also has the opportunity to join the exclusive club of batsmen with more than 900 ratings points. Only five England players in history have achieved that milestone.

The all-time top ten LG ICC Player Rankings for England Test batsmen is:

Pietersen has now moved up to third in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, ahead of India captain Rahul Dravid. The only men ahead of him now are Australia captain Ricky Ponting in first position and Pakistan run machine Mohammed Yousuf in second spot.

There has been plenty of movement in the top 20 with no fewer than six batsmen achieving the highest ratings of their careers to date.

Australia middle-order batsman Michael Clarke has moved into the top 20 for the first time, rocketing up 13 places to 13th position after an exceptional Ashes series so far.

In five innings, the 25-year-old New South Welshman has scored 373 runs, including two hundreds and a fifty, at an average of 124.33.

Following good individual Ashes performances, Michael Hussey, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook have all moved up in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen while Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara has gone up two places to fifth spot, off the back of Sri Lanka's drawn series in New Zealand.

In four innings, Sangakkara scored 268 runs at an average of 134, including an unbeaten 100 out of a total of 170 in the second innings of the first Test in Christchurch. He then made an 156 not out from of a total of 268 in the first innings of the second Test at Wellington.

Meanwhile, Australia fast bowler Stuart Clark has moved into the top 20 of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers for the first time, jumping six places to joint 18th position, level with Steve Harmison of England.

Muttiah Muralidaran continues to stretch his lead at the top of the list and is now just two ratings points short of his career-best which he achieved during the 2002 series against Pakistan.

The big mover among the bowlers is S Sreesanth who has moved up 13 places to 35th place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after he took a total of 8-99 in the first Test against South Africa at Johannesburg.

Sreesanth's team-mate Anil Kumble has also progressed. He is up three places to fifth spot, overtaking Matthew Hoggard, Shane Bond and Andrew Flintoff in the process.

There is no movement at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, with Jacques Kallis of South Africa retaining his lead from Andrew Flintoff and Daniel Vettori.

Following the tied series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, the Black Caps have gained one ratings point and have closed the gap on South Africa to a solitary point in the LG ICC Test Championship.

Stephen Fleming's team will draw level or even overtake the Proteas into sixth position if Graeme Smith and his men lose their ongoing series to India.

For more information about how the LG ICC Player Rankings are devised and maintained go