South Africa's captain Graeme Smith (3rd R) passes a rugby ball as his teammates look on during a training session before Thursday's third cricket Test match against England at Lord's cricket ground in London Tuesday. — ReutersLONDON — Overshadowed by the Olympics and obscured by the Kevin Pietersen saga, England and South Africa resume their series at Lord's Thursday with the top Test ranking on the line. If South Africa can preserve or extend its 1-0 series lead it will replace the host at the top of the ICC Test rankings. “Some people say we are not sure about the rankings, do they hold any water?" South Africa coach Gary Kirsten said. “But deep down every team aspires to and would like to know that they are the No. 1 team in the world." This wouldn't, however, be apparent judging by the headlines that dominated cricket over the past week. The build-up to the Test has been eclipsed by a fiasco centered on a man who won't even play in the match. After South Africa routed England by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test at The Oval, the series was only kept alive by an unexpectedly thrilling draw in the second Test at Headingley last week, when Pietersen almost single-handedly dragged England back into the contest with a spectacular innings of 149. Pietersen, a part-time spinner, then bowled out South Africa's top three to give England an outside chance of victory. But the spectacular achievement was almost immediately overshadowed when Pietersen suggested that the Lord's Test might be his last at the post-match press conference, saying “it's difficult being me in the England dressing room." The issues Pietersen cited seemed to have been resolved when he posted a faintly surreal video on YouTube Saturday, affirming his desire to play in all three formats of the game and revoking his retirement from One-Day Internationals. Yet within 24 hours the ECB announced Pietersen had been dropped from the squad for Lord's, citing his failure to confirm he had not sent “derogatory" text messages to members of the South Africa team. The precise nature of these messages was not disclosed. Reports in the British press suggested Pietersen had been critical of England captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. The most serious accusation was that Pietersen had offered advice on how South Africa could get Strauss out, but this was dismissed by the Proteas' manager Mohammed Moosajee, who claimed the messages were nothing more than “banter between teammates." Whether the messages were just banter remains to be confirmed, but Pietersen's behavior wasn't astute and it appears that he has a gift for irritating people. Yet being irritating isn't a crime. Pietersen hasn't been accused of spot-fixing, drug-taking or gambling, but England's selectors concluded that his actions were serious enough to exclude a player who, as Strauss pointed out at Headingley, can win a Test match on his own. According to his teammates Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan, however, England will not be weaker as a result of Pietersen being dropped for the Test. — Agencies
