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Alastair Cook signs off in 10th position

10icc1England opener Alastair Cook has signed off from international cricket on a remarkable note, moving into the top-10 of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after a Player of the Match performance in the final Test against India at The Oval.

The left-hander’s scores of 71 and 147 made him only the fifth man in history to notch a century in his first and last Test matches, and also helped his side win by 118 runs to complete a 4-1 win in the five-match series. This memorable performance lifted the 33-year-old 11 positions to 10th in the latest rankings, which were released on Wednesday morning.

Cook had achieved a career-high ranking of second in September 2011 after he had scored a Test best 294 against India at Edgbaston. This was the same year when Cook won the prestigious ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.

The former England captain has ended an impressive career with the third-best ranking for a retiring England batsman after Wally Hammond (fifth) and Geoff Boycott (eighth). However, he has finished in a higher position than any of the batsmen who scored more runs then him in the pinnacle format. Jacques Kallis hung his boots in 12th position, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid both ended their careers in 18th spot and Ricky Ponting finished in 26th place.

Apart from winning the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award in 2011, Cook was named in the ICC Test Team of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 (as captain). He also made his way in the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2012, the year in which he reached his career-best fifth position in ODIs during the month of June.

India captain Virat Kohli may have failed in his last innings on the tour, but he has finished as the number-one ranked batsman in world. He had started the series 27 points behind Australia’s Steve Smith and finished one point ahead of his closest rival.

Kohli had first reached the top of the world after the Edgbaston Test and then reclaimed the top spot after the Trent Bridge Test. He will now defend his number-one ranking in the two-Test home series against the West Indies, which starts on 4 October.

In other movements amongst the batsmen, captain Joe Root has moved up one place to fourth position after a fine knock of 125 in the second innings while other England batsmen to gain in the rankings include Jos Buttler (up nine places to 23rd) and Moeen Ali (up five places to 43rd).

India’s Lokesh Rahul and Rishabh Pant have made big gains in the latest rankings update. Rahul has advanced 16 places to 19th position after his knock of 149 and Pant has moved up 63 places to 111th position after his 114 in only his third Test match.

Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 86 in the first innings has helped him gain 12 places to reach 58th among batsmen while he has also moved up one place in the all-rounder’s list to second position.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, England fast bowler James Anderson started and finished the series in number-one ranking. After the Lord’s Test, Anderson reached a career-high 903 points. Anderson started the series with 892 points and finished just one point shy of the coveted 900-point mark.

Other bowlers to make an upward movement after The Oval Test include Ben Stokes (up one place to 27th), Adil Rashid (up six places to 44th) and Sam Curran (up four places to 51st) all advancing after taking three wickets each.

Meanwhile, England have advanced to fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings.  They have gained eight points to move above New Zealand to 105 points and just one point behind South Africa and Australia, who are both on 106 points with the former marginally ahead on decimal points.

India remain the top side in the format but the result has seen them lose 10 points and slip to 115 points.

 

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 12 September, following the England v India Test series):

RANK  TEAM              POINTS

  1. India                 115 (-10)
  2. South Africa     106
  3. Australia           106
  4. England            105 (+8)
  5. New Zealand    102
  6. Sri Lanka           97
  7. Pakistan            88
  8. West Indies       77
  9. Bangladesh       67
  10. Zimbabwe         02
  11. Afghanistan       00
  12. Ireland               00

 

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 12 September, following the England-India Test series):

BATSMEN (top 20)

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team    Points  Avge    Highest Rating

   1          ( - )          Virat Kohli             Ind          930        53.92     937 v Eng at Southampton 2018

   2          ( - )          Steve Smith          Aus         929        61.37     947 v SA at Durban 2018

   3          ( - )          Kane Williamson NZ           847        50.35     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4          (+1)         Joe Root                Eng         835        51.04     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   5          (-1)          David Warner       Aus         820        48.20     880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   6          ( - )          C. Pujara               Ind          772        49.57     888 v SL at Nagpur 2017

   7          ( - )          D. Karunaratne    SL           754!       37.28     754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018

   8          ( - )          D. Chandimal       SL           733        44.96     755 v Win at St Lucia 2018

   9          ( - )          Dean Elgar            SA           724        41.05     784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018

  10         (+11)      Alastair Cook        Eng         709        45.35     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  11         (-1)          Aiden Markram    SA           703*      47.27     759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018

  12         (-1)          Ross Taylor          NZ           697         47.22     871 v Win at Hamilton 2013

  13         (-1)          Kraigg Brathwaite Win         695         37.94     701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

  14         (-1)          Hashim Amla       SA           673         47.23     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

  15         (-1)          Azhar Ali                Pak         672         44.84     787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

  16         (-1)          Faf du Plessis       SA           665         42.33     734 v Ind at Centurion 2018

  17         ( - )          Kusal Mendis        SL           641         36.78     693 v Win at St Lucia 2018

  18         (-2)          Jonny Bairstow     Eng         637         37.19     772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

  19         (+16)      Lokesh Rahul       Ind          635         38.53     761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

  20         (-2)          Usman Khawaja  Aus         633         42.00     747 v Pak at Sydney 2017 

BOWLERS (top 20)

Rank      (+/-)         Player                    Team     Points    Avge      Highest Rating

   1          ( - )          James Anderson Eng         899        26.84      903 v Ind at Lord's 2018

   2          ( - )          Kagiso Rabada    SA           882        21.71      902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018

   3          (+1)         Vernon Philander SA           826        21.54      912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   4          (-1)          Ravindra Jadeja   Ind          814        23.65      899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

   5          ( - )          Pat Cummins       Aus         800*!     23.81      800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018

   6          ( - )          Trent Boult            NZ           795        27.84      825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   7          ( - )          Rangana Herath  SL           791        27.95      867 v Zim at Harare 2016

   8          ( - )          R. Ashwin              Ind          769        25.59      904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

   9          ( - )          Neil Wagner          NZ           765        28.26      785 v Win at Wellington 2017

  10         ( - )          Josh Hazlewood  Aus         759        26.84      863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

  11         ( - )          Shannon Gabriel Win         757!       29.57      757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018

  12         ( - )          Stuart Broad         Eng         734        28.92      880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

  13         ( - )          Jason Holder        Win         732*!     29.35      732 v Ban at Jamaica 2018

  14=       ( - )          Tim Southee         NZ           720        30.82      799 v Win at Jamaica 2014

               ( - )          Mitchell Starc        Aus         720        28.17      805 v SA at Durban 2018

  16         ( - )          Nathan Lyon         Aus         710        32.21      774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

  17         ( - )          Keshav Maharaj   SA           692*      27.65      695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017

  18         ( - )          Yasir Shah            Pak         683        29.44      878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  19         (+1)         Kemar Roach       Win         667        28.31      774 v SA at Centurion 2014

  20         (+1)         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban         665        31.87      705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank      (+/-)         Player                    Team     Points    Highest Rating

   1          ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan  Ban         420        489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

   2          (+1)         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind          383        438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   3          (-1)          Vernon Philander SA           370        378 v SL at Galle 2018

   4          ( - )          Jason Holder        Win         355/*!    355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018

   5          ( - )          R. Ashwin              Ind          343        493 v Eng at Mohali 2016 

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating

 

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