The ICC rankings have been updated following England's recent victory over South Africa at the Wanderers on Saturday. Stuart Broad was the main benefactor as his recent devastating performance against South Africa led him to number one in the test bowler rankings.
Broad revealed as the best
Following Broad's amazing bowling performance of 6-17 that took the heart out of South Africa's batsmen, he has climbed from third to take Ravichandran Ashwin's spot as the world's best Test bowler. Broad's 880 ranking points is nine better than the Indian spinner and 27 points higher than his previous ranking.
By becoming the best test bowler in the world, he becomes the first England bowler to top the rankings in over a decade. Steve Harmison was the last England bowler to top the ICC rankings. Harmison claimed the top spot and held it for 120 days. Only Sir Ian Botham had held the record for England before that back in 1980.
England's other new ball bowler, James Anderson, held his ranking position of fifth, behind the Proteas' Dale Steyn, Pakistan's Yasir Shah and of course India's Ashwin.
Root moves up to number two
Joe Root's fighting innings of 110, which took the game away from South Africa, ensured that Root cemented his place among the world's batting elite. The Yorkshireman improved from his position of fourth to second. He overtook New Zealand's Kane Williamson and the Proteas' AB De Villiers, he trails Australia's Steve Smith by eight ranking points.
His position of second is his highest position since he took the top spot in Dubai last Autumn against Pakistan.
South Africa lose top spot
While many knew that South Africa weren't really the number one test side in the world coming into the series with England, it's now official. While the rankings will not officially update until after the conclusion of the series against England, no result will stop India taking South Africa's spot at the top of the ranking.
On the other hand however, it's commonly acknowledged that England are better than their 5th placed ranking suggests. Even if England win in Centurion to secure a 3-0 series victory, their best result in South Africa for over a century, they can't climb any higher than their current position, although they can gain valuable ground on Pakistan above them.