Although they will not be able to claim the No. 1 rank in all formats of the game, England will still be looking to wrap up the ODI series when they clash with Australia in the fourth ODI on Saturday at Chester-le-Street.
The hosts have an unassailable 2-0 lead after the third ODI was washed out.
For England to claim the top spot in ODIs as well, they needed to win 5-0 against Australia. That dream was, however, shattered by rain washout without ball bowled at Edgbaston in the last match.
Graeme Swann has been rested for the last two matches with England having an unassailable lead. Swann has had a niggling elbow problem that the selectors have decided to not risk ahead of the test series against South Africa that starts in less than a fortnight.
James Tredwell has come in the squad to replace him while Chris Woakes sees himself as a squad member yet again, after being in and out multiple times in the past few weeks. Jade Dernbach continues to remain on the sidelines with a strain.
Australia have hardly been a shadow of their usual menacing best that led them to dominate the world game for the past decade. They have also been found short in several areas of the game.
The situation is so grave that John Inverarity was forced to admit that the batting unit does look thin in the absence of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey. Ponting has retired while Hussey has been rested. In their absence, the batting responsibilities have been shouldered by Peter Forrest, George Bailey and David Hussey.
Captain Michael Clarke could move himself up the order to No. 3. The captain would also be expecting a much-improved showing from the bowlers after they showed no signs of causing trouble to the opponents.
The match will be played at Chester-le-Street where rain could again play havoc.