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The battle for No. 3

Since the decline in Australian domination post 2007, teams appear to have become obsessed with being ranked #1 in Test cricket as though a numerical calculation mattered more than actual results and winning Test matches. The fact that the ranking has changed hands four times in the last five years is almost testament to the fact that teams are driven more by wanting to reach the top spot than on staying there once they make it. Graeme Smith's team will claim that they are the most deserving holders of the mace given their consistency in the last five years plus the fact that they have beaten both Eng and Aus away, and not lost to India in India ie they have outperformed their closest contenders in their home conditions. The truth though is that there is no clear-cut champion at the moment.

What is very clear though is that the upcoming Pataudi Trophy series is a contest to decide third and fourth place. In current form and team circumstances, the teams battling each other down under currently are clearly ahead of England and India. South Africa are still the best all-round unit (ie with the fewest weaknesses) and Australia have a captain who's proving to be inspirational and in the form of his life. Dhoni's men and Cook and co on the other hand are having to rebuild and as Osman Samiuddin puts it, the biggest learning from the series will be how much more rebuilding the losing team will need to do.

Still, a contest between equally flawed teams is often as thrilling as that between equally good ones so I'm eagerly waiting for play to begin in less than six hours time!

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