SA vs AUS: Steve Smith aims to further enhance his stature as an all-time great

In the ICC Test Player Rankings, Australian captain Steve Smith will aim to further enhance his stature as an all-time great batsman as he would get a chance to improve on his tally of 947 points, which is the second-best in the all-time list led by Don Bradman (961) points.

Smith is currently 35 points ahead of second-placed Virat Kohli while vice-captain David Warner has a good opportunity of moving upward from his fifth position. Usman Khawaja (17th) and Shaun Marsh (joint-18th) are the other Australians in the top 20 for batsmen.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood leads their list of bowlers in the fourth position, off-spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm pace bowler Mitchell Starc are joint-10th, while Pat Cummins is another bowler who would be looking to move up towards the top 20 from his current 27th spot.

South Africa boasts a number of players in the top-20 for both batsmen and bowlers and the home conditions would present them with a chance to improve their rankings. Hashim Amla leads their list of batsmen in the seventh position, with opener Dean Elgar (10th), AB de Villiers (13th) and captain Faf du Plessis (14th) the others in the top 20, while wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock is in 25th place.

Pace bowler Kagiso Rabada (875 points) would be looking to reclaim the top position among bowlers as he trails England’s James Anderson by just 12 points, while Vernon Philander (791 points) similarly trails India’s Ravi Ashwin by 12 points and is currently in the sixth position.

Morne Morkel would be looking to sign off on a high as he enters his last Test series in ninth position on 773 points, with Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and New Zealand’s Neil Wagner are within 11 points of the pace bowler. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is another of their top-20 bowlers in 19th position.

Check out ICC Test player rankings here