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Australia's vice-captain Michael Clarke has assumed second position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after his impressive performance with the bat during his team's easy victory over England in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley.

The 28-year-old New South Welshman is now sitting just seven ratings points beneath Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and has pushed India's Gautam Gambhir into third place after his 93 in Leeds helped his side to an innings victory that levels the closely fought series 1-1 with one match to play.

Second position is the highest ranking of Clarke's career so far and is the continuation of his consistent progress up the ladder having broken into the top 20 at the end of 2006, during the last Ashes series.

Clarke's captain Ricky Ponting is also reflecting on a personally satisfying match with his innings of 78 earning him two places. It puts him back up to seventh in the rankings.

England's Paul Collingwood has slipped six places in the rankings to drop out of the top 20 after failing to score in the first innings at Headlingley and then departing for just four in the second.

However, Australia's Marcus North has broken into the top 30 with his second century of the Ashes series, and is now ranked 29th, making a leap of 17 places and claiming his highest ranking since making his Test debut in February of this year.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers Australia's Peter Siddle has made it into the top 20 for the first time with a climb of eight places to 17th position.

Siddle's bowling figures of 6-71 at Headingley, including 5-21 in the first innings, have seen him climb to his highest position to date in the rankings while England's Stuart Broad has also climbed eight places to just outside the top 20.

Broad is now in 24th position in the rankings which is his highest career ranking to date after the 24-year-old right-arm fast bowler took figures of 6-91.

The bowling list still ranks South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn at the top with Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran occupying second place and Australia's Mitchell Johnson in third.

After missing the Leeds Test through injury England's Andrew Flintoff has slipped one place to fifth position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders. The number-one all-rounder is still Jacques Kallis of South Africa with Johnson second and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori third.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has cleared Pakistan players of coming in contact with bookmakers on their recent tour of Sri Lanka.

The ICC said in a statement on Monday that it was satisfied "no evidence of any such contacts exists" after its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit held an investigation following media reports that the visitors had been approached.

"I am pleased those investigations have indicated nothing untoward has taken place on this occasion but it is a reminder that all of us... must maintain our vigilance to ensure we remain on top of the issue of corruption," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

The Pakistan Cricket Board informed ICC that it suspected bookmakers were staying on the same floor as their players in the team hotel in Colombo after the tourists lost the test series 2-0 and had lost the first three games of their five-match, one-day series.

Pakistan pulled back to win the final two one-dayers.

Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke moved up to second place in the International Cricket Council's test rankings for batsmen after hitting 93 in the fourth Ashes test at Headingley.

Clarke, Australia's highest run-getter in the series with 445, recorded his career-best ranking after the tourists beat England by an innings and 80 runs on Sunday to level the five-test series 1-1. The final test begins on Aug 20.

Clarke replaced India's Gautam Gambhir in second place behind Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara. South African fast bowler Dale Steyn retained the top spot among test bowlers.

Five England players, who were part of the miserable innings defeat in the fourth Ashes cricket Test against Australia at Headingley, have been asked to go back and play for their counties to rediscover their form before the series decider at the Oval.

England batsmen Ravi Bopara, his Essex colleague Alastair Cook, Ian Bell of Warwickshire and bowlers Nottighmashire's Graham Swan and Durham's Graham Onions have been released by the England team management Monday.

England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Hugh Morris said in a statement that following discussions with the England team management, it was decided to make a number of players available to their counties for four-day cricket this week.

'We are aware that we underperformed with bat and ball at Headingley and this decision is designed to give players an opportunity to spend time in the middle and get overs under their belt ahead of the decisive fifth Test at The Oval next week,' the statement said.

Bopara, in particular, has struggled in the series after making centuries in three successive innings against West Indies earlier in the year, and will figure along with Cook in Essex's squad for their county game against Middlesex at Lord's, starting Tuesday.

If the Headingley Test had gone the full distance instead of the seven sessions, the players would not have been able to play for their counties. Bopara and Bell together managed just 12 runs in the Leeds Test and they need to regain their confidence with the Oval Test Test 10 days away.

Chief selector Geoff Miller is under increasing pressure to drop Bopara from the Eleven, and media reports speculate that Surrey's Mark Ramprakash could be recalled seven years after he played his last international game.

Ramprakash, 39, has been in terrific form in county cricket in recent seasons, and Miller hinted that the Surrey batsman could be called up.

'What we have to do as selectors is measure the quality of what they are putting in for domestic cricket and whether they can do it at international level,' Miller told Radio Five Live. 'There's a lot more pressure, it's a different game altogether.

'Test cricket is completely different from county, and the problem we have is deciding whether they can take their domestic form into the international arena. That's always been the case and always will be.'

When asked whether Ramprakash - who averaged 27.32 in his 52 Tests - would be looked at again, Miller replied: 'I'm not ruling anybody out. We'll have a look at it. There's an option. He's not retired from international cricket.'

Miller was also forced to defend the decision to omit Andrew Flintoff for the fourth Test, insisting it was right to put the advice of England's medical team ahead of the all-rounder's wishes.

Flintoff's agent claimed the 31-year-old Lancasterian had told England's selectors that he was prepared to play through the pain barrier, but the offer was rejected.

Flintoff has recurring knee problem and failed to convince the medical team of his ability to make it through the Test.