England is No 1 ranked Test side

Birmingham, Aug 13 (IBNS) England has emphatically claimed the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Test Championship table for the first time in 32 years after winning the Edgbaston Test against India by an innings and 242 runs which has also given it an impregnable 3-0 lead in the four-Test series.

Andrew Strauss's side had started the series in third position behind South Africa and trailing top ranked India by eight ratings points. To top the Championship table for the first time under the current ranking system, which was introduced in June 2003, England had needed to win the series by a 2-0 margin or better.

England accomplished its mission with enormous confidence and that too in great style when it won the first Test at Lord's by 196 runs, then doubled the lead with a convincing 319 runs victory at Trent Bridge before sealing the series at Edgbaston on Saturday.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, in complimenting the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the England team, said: "On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate Andrew Strauss, Andy Flower and the whole team for becoming the number-one ranked Test team in the world.

"I know they were determined to be number-one and through careful planning and a series of clinical performances, they have deservedly achieved their goal. They were clearly the most consistent side in the world over the past few years as evidenced by their 19 out of 30 Test wins and only four loses.

"This achievement is just reward for the hard work from all the players and team management and they no doubt will celebrate being on top of the world."

England had last surged to the top of the Test rankings in Feb 1979 when the then number-one ranked West Indies lost a six-Test series in India by 1-0.

However, the West Indies bounced back five months later to beat England by 1-0 in a five-Test series to reclaim the number-one ranking.

Prior to this and since the 1950s, England had twice achieved number-one rankings - from 1955 to 1959 and then from 1970 to 1973. In contrast, India had achieved the number-one ranking on 6 December 2009 after beating Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three-Test series.

While England will be sitting on top of the tree when the Test Championship table will be updated at the end of the series at the conclusion of the fourth and last Test, India's position will depend on how The Oval Test, which starts next Thursday, pans out.

If England wins The Oval Test, it will finish on 125 ratings points while India will drop to third on 117 ratings points. However, if India wins or draws the Test, it will stay ahead of South Africa in second position. A win will allow India to finish on 120 ratings points while a drawn Test will mean it will finish on 119 ratings points.

With the new Test Championship confirmed, the top four teams will progress to the play-offs with seedings determined at the cut-off date around mid-January 2013. The final Test match in this series will, therefore, also have meaning for this reason.

For achieving the number-one Test ranking, England will be presented with the mace at the end of the series.

England's series results since May 2009:

England beat West Indies 2-0 (home)

England beat Australia 2-1 (home)

England drew 1-1 with South Africa (away)

England beat Bangladesh 2-0 (away)

England beat Bangladesh 2-0 (home)

England beat Pakistan 3-1 (home)

England beat Australia 3-1 (away)

England beat Sri Lanka 1-0 (home)

England lead India 3-0 (home)