Cummins earns Test rankings high

Australian quick Pat Cummins has jumped into the top-20 ranked Test bowlers for the first time, joining fellow quicks Morne Morkel and Trent Boult in making big leaps in the latest update.

While the cricket world has been focused on the fallout to the ball tampering scandal in South Africa, Cummins moved up to 18th – a gain of five places – in the latest ICC Test bowling rankings after he took seven wickets in Australia's loss in Cape Town.

Morkel and Boult also gained five places each, both players moving into the top-10 after player-of-the-match performances in Cape Town and Auckland respectively. Morkel took nine wickets at Newlands in what was his penultimate Test. Boult also bagged nine wickets for the match in New Zealand's innings win over England at Eden Park.

On the batting front, Proteas duo Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram have both achieved career highs while Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson moved ahead of England counterpart Joe Root and is now the third-ranked Test batsman in the world.

Elgar's superb 141no at Newlands, when he carried the bat for a record-equalling third time in Tests, has seen him jump to a career best of eighth best while Markram's impressive series has continued, with the young opener moving up seven spots to 15th.

Williamson's century at Eden Park saw him move eight rankings points ahead of Root, who drops down to fourth.

Australia's Steve Smith remains the top-ranked batsman, while David Warner sits at No.5, but both players have been suspended for 12 months following the investigation into the ball tampering affair in Cape Town.

ICC TEST RANKINGS

BATTING

1) Steve Smith
2) Virat Kohli
3) Kane Williamson
4) Joe Root
5) David Warner
6) AB de Villiers
7) Cheteshwar Pujara
8) Dean Elgar
9) Azhar Ali
10) Hashim Amla

BOWLING

1) Kagiso Rabada
2) James Anderson
3) Ravindra Jadeja
4) Ravichandran Ashwin
5) Josh Hazlewood
6) Morne Morkel
7) Trent Boult
8) Neil Wagner
=9) Rangana Herath
=9) Vernon Philander

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, AB de Villiers.

Australia squad: Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test South Africa won by six wickets. Scorecard

Third Test South Africa won by 322 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage