England eye rankings jackpot
England will win a $175 000 jackpot for topping the world test rankings if they win the series against Pakistan or lose by a single match, the International Cricket Council announced on Monday.
The annual award is presented to the side that finishes at the head of the ICC test championship table on 1 April.
England, who rose to world No 1 in the ICC test rankings by beating India 4-0 in August last year, face Pakistan in a three-match series in Dubai from Tuesday.
"England will have a chance to the win the $175 000 jackpot for topping the ICC test championship table when it goes head-to-head with Pakistan in a three-test series," the ICC said.
They will lose the jackpot only if Pakistan beat them either 2-0 or 3-0, with world No 2 side South Africa poised to benefit.
South Africa visit New Zealand for a three-test series from March 7 to 27 and can still snatch the jackpot from England should their rivals lose by more than one test and they win on their tour.
"In case of a 1-0 or 2-1 series loss, England will finish on 120 ratings points, one ahead of South Africa (assuming it wins 3-0 against New Zealand)," the ICC explained.
"The side that finishes second in the Reliance ICC test Championship table on the 1 April cut-off date will receive $75 000."
England captain Andrew Strauss said his team had not thought about the jackpot.
"We haven't thought about that, those sort of things if you start to think about that you are drifting to dangerous terrority," said Strauss.
Meanwhile, Australian opener David Warner has made a big move in the ICC player rankings for test batsmen, which were updated after the Perth test.
The 25-year-old, man of the match after hitting the joint-fourth fastest century in test cricket history, jumped 35 places to 34th position.
Australia beat India by an innings and 37 runs inside three days to lead the four-match series 3-0.