ICC rankings: Anderson becomes number-one ranked Test bowler, Ashwin at No. 2

ashwin test 26Dubai: England’s James Anderson has topped the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers for the first time in his career after bowling his side to a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Chester-le-Street on Monday.



Anderson took three for 36 and five for 58, and, in doing so, has leapfrogged team-mate Stuart Broad and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin into the coveted number-one position. He now leads Broad by 15 points and Ashwin by 13 points.

For his efforts that also fetched him the man of the match award, Anderson has earned 30 points. This means in the two Tests against Sri Lanka, the 33-year-old Lancastrian has collected 79 points and has gained four spots in the rankings.

Anderson is the fourth England bowler to top the bowlers’ table since Ian Botham first achieved this feat in 1980. Steve Harmison stormed up the chart in 2004, while Broad vaulted to the number-one position earlier this year following the Johannesburg Test against South Africa.

Broad, who took five wickets in the Test, has slipped behind Ashwin to third place after conceding three points.

Other bowlers to improve their rankings post the Chester-le-Street Test are Nuwan Pradeep (43rd, up by five places), Milinda Siriwardana (50th, up by 13 places) and Chris Woakes (73rd, up by 16 places).

In the batting table, England’s Moeen Ali has achieved a career-high ranking.

The left-handed batsman scored 155 not out, his career-best score in 25 Tests, which helped England to declare its first innings at 498 for nine. For this achievement, Ali has earned 82 points that has lifted him 12 places to a career-high 35th position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

Opener Alex Hales has also continued to head in the right direction. After scoring 83 and 11, the 27-year-old batsman has moved up nine places to 70th. In the past two Tests, Hales has claimed 47 places and looks strong to gain further spots as he is still in the qualification period. A batsman qualifies for a full rating after he has played 40 Test innings, while Hales has so far batted in only 11 Test innings.

Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, who scored 126 in the second innings, has moved up one place to 19th, while Nick Compton is now in 67th spot after rising one place.

Alastair Cook, who became the first England batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs while scoring 47 not out in the second innings, has retained his 15thposition.

Australia captain Steve Smith is the number-one ranked Test batsman, followed by Joe Root of England and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.

In the all-rounders’ list, Ali has gained one place and is now sixth, just one point behind team-mate Ben Stokes. Ashwin is the number-one ranked all-rounder.

The Test player rankings will now be updated after the Lord’s Test.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 31 May, after Chester-le-Street Test)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Ave        HS Rating

   1         ( - )        Steve Smith         Aus        925        60.18    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   2         ( - )        Joe Root               Eng        878        54.46    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3         ( - )        Kane Williamson NZ         868        49.23    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4         ( - )        Hashim Amla      SA         860       51.45    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5         ( - )        Younus Khan       Pak        826        53.94    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   6         ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         818        50.46    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   7         ( - )        Adam Voges        Aus        811*!    95.50    811 v NZ at Christchurch 2016

   8         ( - )        David Warner      Aus        800        50.06    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   9         ( - )        Angelo Mathews SL          784        49.25    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

  10        ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        764        48.89    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

  15        ( - )        Alastair Cook      Eng        710        46.49    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  19        (+1)       D. Chandimal      SL          674        45.18    690 v NZ at Dunedin 2015

  21        ( - )        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        644        35.69    646 v SL at Headingley 2016

  35        (+12)     Moeen Ali           Eng        558!      31.54    558 v SL at Durham 2016

  37        (-2)        D. Karunaratne    SL          541        33.28    619 v WI at Galle 2015

  44        ( - )        Kaushal Silva      SL          508        31.29    638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  55        (-5)        M. Siriwardana    SL          435*     33.11    463 v NZ at Hamilton 2015

  67        (+1)       Nick Compton     Eng        364*     30.20    443 v NZ at Wellington 2013

  68        (-2)        L. Thirimanne     SL          358        24.16    386 v Ind at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  70        (+9)       Alex Hales           Eng        351*!    28.72    351 v SL at Durham 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

   1         (+2)       James Anderson  Eng        884!      28.33    884 v SL at Durham 2016

   2         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         871!      25.39    871 v SA at Delhi 2015

   3         (-2)        Stuart Broad        Eng        869        28.37    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

   4         ( - )        Yasir Shah           Pak        846*!    24.17    846 v Eng at Sharjah 2015

  5         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         841        22.53    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   6         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         789*!    23.76    789 v SA at Delhi 2015

   7         ( - )        Trent Boult          NZ         757        29.14    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   8         ( - )        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        741*     25.77    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

   9         ( - )        Morne Morkel     SA         724        29.33    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

  10        ( - )        Vernon Philander SA         717        22.08    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

  13        (-2)        Rangana Herath   SL          679        30.11    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  21        (-2)        Steven Finn         Eng        578        28.55    624 v NZ at Headingley 2013

  28        (-3)        Moeen Ali           Eng        481*     40.65    557 v SA at Durban 2015

  40        (-5)        Shaminda Eranga SL          387*     37.45    541 v Eng at Headingley 2014

  43        (+5)       Nuwan Pradeep   SL          374*!    45.27    374 v Eng at Durham 2016

  44        (-3)        D. Chameera        SL          373*     27.28    377 v Eng at Headingley 2016

  47        (-1)        Suranga Lakmal  SL          355*     49.62    363 v NZ at Wellington 2015

  50        (+13)     M. Siriwardana    SL          327*!    23.36    327 v Eng at Durham 2016

73          (+16)     Chris Woakes      Eng        179*!    47.84    179 v SL at Durham 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         HS Rating

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         406       419 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   2         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   3         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        294       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

   4         ( - )        Vernon Philander SA         275*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

   5         (-1)        Ben Stokes           Eng        269 /*   276 v SA at Centurion 2016