Thanks to the final days play in the Test match between South Africa and New Zealand in Dunedin being washed out and the match declared a draw, England secure the top place in the test ranking for the first time since they started in 2003, albeit by the narrowest of margins.
You see the cut off date is April 01, the team that is top as of that date, appropriately maybe April Fools day, is crowned the number ranked team in the World and is awarded the Championship Mace and USD$175,000.
England will finish on 118 points with South Africa only able to amass 117 if they win the series in New Zealand 2-0, to claim second. If they win 1-0 they will finish on 116. The draw proving crucial to their ranking, and meaning they only receive USD$75,000, but they are not worried about the money, just the ranking.
However if New Zealand win the series 2-0 South Africa will fall even further, they will end up behind India and Australia. The Kiwis will then jump ahead of the West Indies who will be second last to Bangladesh who have accumulated only 4 ratings points.
