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Anderson is No. 1 Test bowler, Ashwin stays 2nd

Last updated on: May 31, 2016 15:49 IST

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

James Anderson

IMAGE: James Anderson celebrates dismissing Sri Lanka's Milinda Siriwardana during the second Test in Durham. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

England pacer James Anderson 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, in Durham, on Monday.

Anderson took three for 36 and five for 58, and, in doing so, 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.

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

Following the achievement, Ali earned 82 points that lifted him 12 places to a career-high 35th position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Opener Alex Hales also continued to head in the right direction.

After scoring 83 and 11, the 27-year-old England batsman moved up nine places to 70th.  In the past two Tests, Hales 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, moved up one place to 19th, while Nick Compton is now in 67th place after rising one rung.

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

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 gained one place and is now sixth, just a point behind team-mate Ben Stokes.

Ashwin is the number-one ranked all-rounder.

The Test player rankings will next be updated after the third Test between England and Sri Lanka, starting at Lord's on June 9.

ICC Test Player Rankings (As on May 31, 2016):

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

 Bowlers (Top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave 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

 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

* 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