England eye Australia's world title

There was a nice moment long after the fans had left Edgbaston and the post-match pleasantries had been completed when Alastair Cook entered the field of play, beer in hand, and started playing catch with his daughter Elsie.

As the toddler threw the rubber cricket ball towards her proud father, England’s captain must have felt on top of the world.

About 90 minutes earlier, Cook and his team had pulled off a stunning final-day heist in this third Test, claiming the last nine Pakistan wickets for 122 runs in 40.2 overs.

Scorecard: England beat Pakistan in third Test

The ruthless victory not only underlined England’s progress since last summer’s Ashes win but actually now gives them a realistic chance of claiming the No.1 spot in the world Test rankings well ahead of schedule.

Australia’s two recent defeats in Sri Lanka, coupled with England’s wins at Old Trafford and Edgbaston, means Cook’s men will definitely overtake Steve Smith’s side if they come out on top in their final match of this series that starts at The Oval on Thursday. 

Whether or not they will assume the No.1 spot from Australia depends on how India fare in the rest of their series in the West Indies.

Anything other than two wins would see England also leapfrog India, completing an amazing first 15 months in the job for coach Trevor Bayliss.

The Australian has set gaining the No.1 Test ranking as his long-term goal ever since taking on the England job in June of last year.

In truth, nobody had thought it even remotely possible until next year’s away Ashes series at the earliest.

To even be talking about getting there now is testament to how far England have come in a short space of time.

Cook, though, knows his team still have a long way to go before they are the finished article. Even if they were to catapult themselves to the summit over the next few weeks, England’s captain admits it would be down as much to others messing up as his side winning consistently.

"If we do become No.1 after The Oval that is fantastic but I wouldn’t say we’re anywhere near our potential," he said. 

"If that happens it’s a bit of a irrelevance for me because this side’s still got so much further to go. I thought it might come in a couple of years’ time. If it happens that’s probably because of other results."

Since last year’s Ashes, which England won 3-2 against most expectations in Bayliss’ first series in charge, England have played 13 Tests, winning six, drawing three and losing four.

Three of those defeats came away from home, two in the UAE against Pakistan and the other in a dead rubber against South Africa at Centurion.

Four of the six wins have come at home this northern summer against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, while the other two at Durban and the Wanderers sealed a memorable series victory in South Africa.

So while England may not actually be the best Test side in the world quite yet, they are on an upward trajectory.

That, of course, could all change later this year, when England face two Tests in Bangladesh and five in India before Christmas.

Australia’s recent record in Asia – losing eight in a row - underlines the peril of those assignments and India, in particular, promises to be a severe examination for Cook and his team.

Yet despite losing their last series in Asia 2-0 against Pakistan late last year, England were not outclassed; denied victory in the opening Test only by bad light and taking the next two to final-day finishes.

Before that, England won 2-1 in India in 2012 and drew 1-1 in Sri Lanka earlier that year.

Graeme Swann helped massively on both those tours and despite the best efforts of Moeen Ali – who took the final wicket of this match in Birmingham – and leg-spinner Adil Rashid, England have not replaced the off-spinner who took 255 wickets in 60 Tests.

That’s not to say England couldn’t win in India this year but before then there is the job of first wrapping up this series against Pakistan.

Misbah-ul-Haq’s team showed they have a liking for London by winning the opening match of the series at Lord’s. Australia also won both their Tests in the capital last year, meaning England are on a four-match winless streak in the city taking into account their Lord’s draw against Sri Lanka in June.

So, Cook is right, getting to No.1 is irrelevant for now. England will have to fight hard to win at The Oval. If they do manage it, getting to the top of the rankings really would be an unexpected bonus.