Australia will need to beat Pakistan comprehensively in the three-Test series starting in Melbourne on Saturday if it is to retain its third position in the ICC Test Championship table. Australia starts the series with a difference of 33 rating points relative to sixth-placed Pakistan and this gap means it is expected to win the series convincingly. As such, because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, failure to win comfortably will mean Australia will drop points.

While Australia's 2-0 win will keep it on 116 ratings points and a clean sweep will earn it just two ratings points, a 1-0 or 2-1 series win will drop it to 115 ratings points and behind Sri Lanka when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal poi

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has announced his retirement from Test cricket - but will remain available for one-day and Twenty20 internationals. Bond, 34, was forced to withdraw from the recent Test series against Pakistan after tearing an abdominal muscle in the first Test. After further assessment, medical advice is that the injury will require more time than expected to heal.

A genuine match winner, Shane Bond broke into the Blackcaps squad as one of the fastest bowlers ever produced by New Zealand and was the quickest Kiwi to 50 wickets, both in ODIs and Tests. After quitting the ICL (Indian Cricket league) the pro bowler made a comeback in the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka and slowly carved his way into the

Jacques Kallis has become South Africa's highest-ranked batsman after replacing Graeme Smith in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. The 34-year-old, who scored 120 and four in the Centurion Test against England, has climbed three places to eighth in the latest rankings which were released on Monday morning. It is the first time since August 2008 that Kallis has featured in the top 10 of the rankings which he first topped in January 2005.

In contrast, Smith, who scored a duck and 12 at Centurion, has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in 16 months after sliding four places to 11th position. Smith is not the only batsman inside the top 20 to take a dive in the latest rankings. Aust

Australia needed just three and a half overs on Day 5 at Perth to put an end to the West Indian resistance and wrap up the three match series 2-0. The overnight last wicket pair of Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge came into the day knowing they would near a miracle of epic proportions to score the 51 runs needs to take the Windies to victory, and a share of the spoils in the series.

The batsmen continued in the aggressive vein that they ended Day 4 in, adding 15 runs in the 21 balls they faced, with a boundary each to giv