South Africa, which lost its coveted position to India on 6 December, will need to beat England by 2-0 or better to reclaim the top spot which it had taken over from Australia after Ricky Ponting's side lost the Ashes earlier this summer.
A 2-0 or 3-1 series win will put South Africa on par with India but ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point while a 4-0 series win will take Graeme Smith's side to 127 ratings points.
In contrast, England has a chance to leapfrog South Africa into fourth position but for that to happen, Andrew Strauss's side will need to win all its matches in the series. A 4-0 series win will put England alongside South Africa on 113 ratings points but ahead of the Proteas when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
While a convincing 2-0 or 3-1 series win will strengthen England's hold on fifth position, it will affect South Africa's ranking the hosts would drop to 116 ratings points and possibly in third position, depending how the Perth Test between Australia and the West Indies pans out.
Meanwhile, rain has thwarted New Zealand's chances of swapping places with Pakistan after the Napier Test ended in a draw. New Zealand, chasing 208 to win the Test and the series 2-1 in a minimum of 43 overs, was 90 for no wicket and required another 118 runs from a minimum of 23 overs when steady rain ended the contest.
A victory in Napier would have lifted New Zealand to fifth place on 84 ratings points while pushing Pakistan to sixth position on 78 ratings point. But in the end, the Black Caps had to settle for gaining one ratings point while Pakistan stayed sixth on 83 ratings points.
In the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen issued on Tuesday, Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf and New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor have slipped one place each to sixth and 10th respectively.
The batsmen to gain most from the Napier Test include New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who has achieved his career-best 25th ranking after improving by two places, Umar Akmal 38th (up by five places), Imran Farhat 39th (up by 10 places) and Faisal Iqbal 71st (up by nine places) while the batsmen to lose ground are Misbah-ul-Haq 45th (down by seven places) and Daniel Flynn 74th (down by four places).
South Africa boasts Graeme Smith (seventh), Jacques Kallis (11th), Ashwell Prince (13th) and AB de Villiers (14th) while England only has Strauss (14th) and Kevin Pietersen (17th) inside the top 20.
Batsmen from both the sides out of the top 20 and eyeing an upward movement include Hashim Amla (27th), Alastair Cook (28th), Paul Collingwood (31st), Matt Prior (35th), Ian Bell (36th) and Mark Boucher (50th).
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Pakistan's Danish Kaneria has climbed two places to 13th after match figures of 7-189 while New Zealand fast bowler Iain O'Brien has retired in 21st position after rising five places following match figures of 6-143.
Those failing to maintain their rankings include Mohammad Asif, who has dropped one place to fifth, Vettori, who has slipped two places to 13th, and Umar Gul who has dropped three places to 24th.
The bowlers' list is headed by South Africa's Dale Steyn while Makhaya Ntini, who will be playing in his 100th Test, is in fourth position followed by Paul Harris (ninth), James Anderson (11th), Graeme Swann (12th), Stuart Broad (14th), Ryan Sidebottom (16th) and Kallis (19th).
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Player Rankings for all-rounders, Kallis leads the field with England's Broad in fifth position.
The series schedule is
16-20 Dec - First Test, Centurion
26-30 Dec - Second Test, Durban
3-7 Jan - Third Test, Cape Town
14-18 Jan - Fourth Test, Johannesburg
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