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LONDON, Friday (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council (ICC) is "disappointed" over comments attributed to England captain Nasser Hussain that he was unconcerned his side had been overtaken by New Zealand in the ICC Test Championship.

New Zealand moved into fourth place in the official ICC Test Championship standings after beating England by 78 runs in the third and final test in Auckland on Wednesday to draw the series 1-1.

"The ICC is disappointed to note media comments about the ICC Test Championship attributed to the England team captain after the Auckland test," the game's world governing body said in a statement on Thursday.

"We don't want to get into any actual conflict over this, but we wanted to make the point that the ICC Test Championship has generated a great deal of interest in cricket right across the globe," an ICC official spokesman told Reuters.

"The role of the championship in helping to place test match cricket and team performances into context has been welcomed by team captains, players and followers of the game around the world since its introduction last May."

"I'm not interested in the test table," Hussain had told reporters on Wednesday after his side's defeat.

"I'm more interested in how we are going to beat Sri Lanka next summer and how on earth are we going to win an Ashes series."

KINGS LEADERS

Australia continue to head the ICC Test Championship rankings with 1.54 points following nine test wins in 13 games.

South Africa are second on 1.50, having picked up 11 victories in 16 tests.

Sri Lanka are third on 1.14 while New Zealand, fourth on 1.13, occupy their highest position since the table was first introduced in May 1996.

Countries are ranked by the number of points earned divided by the number of tests played.

Each test win earns two points with one point for a draw.

The next two series in the ICC Test Championship are the matches between West Indies and India in the Caribbean, beginning in Guyana on April 11, and Pakistan's rearranged home series to New Zealand, starting in Lahore on May 1.

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