Shane Warne will announce on Thursday that he will retire at the end of the current Ashes series, according to Australia's Channel Nine. The television station, which has used Warne as a commentator, also said Glenn McGrath would quit after the fifth Test in Sydney starting on January 2.

If the reports turn out to be true, the end of the Ashes will also mark the end of an era in cricket. Two great servants of Australian cricket who between them picked up over 1,200 wickets and won their side countless matches, will not be running through batting line-ups any more. The cricket world will miss these two phenomenal cricketers. Their retirement will also mark the end of Aussie domination in Test cricket.

Few will argue that it is bowlers that win you Test matches; if you want victory you need to pick up 20 wickets. And that’s why Australia have been the best Test side in the world for the last decade or so. No one has been able to stop the Aussie juggernaut, not South Africa, not the Asians, not even the Rest of the World side.

With Warne and McGrath out, Australia are going to have to play really hard to maintain their status as the best in the world. Quite frankly, I don’t think they can do it. Brett Lee is their only genuine world-class bowler - Stuart Clarke still has to prove himself on a consistent basis. Sure, there are a bunch of guys waiting in the wings, but Nathan Bracken, Clarke, Lee and Mitchell Johnson are not going to be able to get you 20 wickets on a consistent basis. And so I present to you the new pecking order in cricket one year down the line . . .

The Laggards

8. West Indies: Brian Lara may be a great leader and they may have come a long way in the shorter version of the game, but a great batting line-up and arguably the weakest bowling line-up among the top eight sides is not going to win you a lot of matches

7. South Africa: How the mighty have fallen. Once second only to Australia, the Proteas have performed badly over the last 12 months and will only get worse. Shaun Pollock is aging, and the rest of the bowling looks shaky other than Makhaya Ntini. Even their batting has been inconsistent and they just haven’t found replacements for their former dependable players like Gary Kirsten and Daryll Cullinan.

The Almost Theres

6. New Zealand: Stephen Fleming is a great captain, Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori are great bowlers with some decent back-up. The problem - there’s no one in the side who can bat!

5. Sri Lanka: It’s hard to say with these islanders - on their day they can beat anyone but they can often completely lose the plot. Their 3-0 Test series loss at home to Australia in 2003-04 pretty much sums up how they play. They looked great in patches, taking first innings leads in all those matches (and sizeable leads on two occasions), only to play a miserable second half of the match. And that’s why they just fall short of the elite.

The Elite
4. Australia: They’ll still be among the best but I just fail to see them being the best any more. Their batting will continue to carry them, Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting will lead the way. But they just won’t have the bowlers to get the job done.

3. India: For years, they’ve had Javagal Srinath carry the load as the sole quickie and everyone else turned out at best to be a one-match wonder. Now they finally seem to have together a good lot of pace bowlers. This, coupled with a strong batting line-up, will see Team India continue to do well both at home and overseas.

2. England: They’ve got two of the best players in the world in Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff. Their bowling is improving with Monty Panesar developing into a true match-winner. They should also have Michael Vaughan back as captain, which is a great thing given Flintoff’s uninspired leadership in the Ashes. The supporting crew is also coming together with Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood and Alastair Cook all looking good. All in all, probably just one bowler short of being the best.

1. Pakistan: Controversial, enigmatic, inconsistent Pakistan will get their act together and take the cricketing world by storm. They will have a strong captain in Inzamam ul Haq, a tremendous batting line-up with the skipper, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and the best bowling line-up in the world with the likes of Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akthar, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami and Danish Kaneria. Pakistan will be the new kings of world Test cricket.