LONDON, Aug 2: England have three bowlers in the latest world player rankings after Matthew Hoggard vaulted up to number five.

The 25-year-old Hoggard joined Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick in the top bracket on the back of decisive performances in England’s 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka and in the first Test against India.

He took seven wickets in the Lord’s game, also removing Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly with consecutive deliveries.

Hoggard, previously in 13th place in the table, has only played 12 tests but has had to mature quickly with Gough, who has not played a test for almost a year, and Caddick both injured.

Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan remain in the top two bowling positions.

India will hope they justify the world batting rankings when they try to level the series against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, next week.

They have three players in the top 20 — Sachin Tendulkar, who dropped three places to number five, Vangipurappu Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

England have two batsmen in the same bracket but Marcus Trescothick is making his way back from a fractured thumb while Graham Thorpe is taking a break from cricket to spend more time with his children.

Adam Gilchrist and Inzamam-ul-Haq hold the top two batting positions.

New Zealand and Bangladesh are the only two test-playing nations without players ranked in either top 10. PricewaterhouseCoopers test ratings: Batting:

Team Points Average 1. Adam Gilchrist Australia 881 60.00 2. Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan 852 49.40 3. Brian Lara West Indies 837 49.49 4. Matthew Hayden Australia 836 49.06 5. Sachin Tendulkar India 814 56.96 6. Jacques Kallis South Africa 783 47.27 7. Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka 780 48.89 8. Andy Flower Zimbabwe 776 52.30 9. Marcus Trescothick England 765 41.75 10. Herschelle Gibbs South Africa 764 40.49 Bowling: 1. Glenn McGrath Australia 908 21.91 2. Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka 899 23.32 3. Shaun Pollock South Africa 874 20.72 4. Shane Warne Australia 764 26.52 5. Matthew Hoggard England 715 27.79 6. Saqlain Mushtaq Pakistan 710 28.52 7. Waqar Younis Pakistan 695 22.98 8. Anil Kumble India 683 27.97 9. Andrew Caddick England 681 29.20 10. Darren Gough England 675 27.57—Reuters