India’s innings defeat at Lord’s resulted in some big moves in the ICC Test Rankings this week.
Jimmy Anderson became only the seventh England bowler and the first in 38 years for his country to breach the 900-point mark in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after an excellent performance in the second Test against India at Lord’s, which his side won by an innings and 159 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Anderson’s outstanding match figures of 9-43 enabled him to reach 903 points and join a select group comprising of Sydney Barnes (932), George Lohmann (931), Tony Lock (912), Ian Botham (911), Derek Underwood (907) and Alec Bedser (903), all of whom peaked at over 900 points during their careers.
England’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests with 553 scalps (and the only one to claim 100 Test wickets at Lord’s), Anderson is the first England bowler to breach the coveted mark since Botham touched 900 points in August 1980. Anderson now leads second-placed South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada by 21 points in the bowlers’ list.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has moved up 25 places to take 74th spot among the bowlers.
ICC Men’s Test bowling rankings
| Pos | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | James Anderson | ENG | 903 |
| 2 | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 882 |
| 3 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 849 |
| 4 | Vernon Philander | SA | 826 |
| 5 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 802 |
| 6 | Pat Cummins | AUS | 800 |
| 7 | Trent Boult | NZ | 795 |
| 8 | Rangana Herath | SL | 791 |
| 9 | Neil Wagner | NZ | 765 |
| 10 | Josh Hazlewood | AUS | 759 |
| 11 | Shannon Gabriel | WI | 757 |
| 12 | Stuart Broad | ENG | 750 |
| 13 | Jason Holder | WI | 731 |
| 14 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 720 |
| 15 | Tim Southee | NZ | 720 |
| 16 | Nathan Lyon | AUS | 710 |
| 17 | Keshav Maharaj | SA | 692 |
A fantastic all-round performance! 4 wickets and a brilliant maiden century nets @chriswoakes the Player of the Match award! ???? #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/izHZInO1ud
— ICC (@ICC) August 12, 2018
Another one to make a mark in the Lord’s Test and whose performances reflect strongly in the latest rankings update is player of the match Chris Woakes, whose splendid century and useful bowling efforts see him move up all three charts – for batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.
Woakes, who slammed an unbeaten 137 in England’s only innings and chipped in with four wickets in the match, has gained 34 places to reach a career-best 50th among batsmen while also moving up three places to 32nd among bowlers and by five places to seventh among all-rounders.
Another England player to catch the eye in the latest rankings is wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, whose 93-run knock has lifted him back into the top 10. Stuart Broad (up one place to 12th) among bowlers, and batsmen Jos Buttler (up one place to 69th) and Ollie Pope (125th), have also done well with regard to the rankings.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has conceded the top spot for batsmen ― just over a week after overtaking Steve Smith ― after the Indian skipper failed to lift his team out of two difficult situations in the Lord’s Test. The India captain played knocks of 23 and 17 as his side were bowled out for 107 and 130.
The low scores and one-sided loss have led to a fall in rankings for most India players with Ravichandran Ashwin the notable exception, moving up in the list for batsmen from 67th to 57th, with defiant innings of 29 and 33 not out.
ICC Men’s Test batting rankings
| Pos | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Steve Smith | AUS | 929 |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | IND | 919 |
| 3 | Joe Root | ENG | 851 |
| 4 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 847 |
| 5 | David Warner | AUS | 820 |
| 6 | Cheteshwar Pujara | IND | 759 |
| 7 | Dimuth Karunaratne | SL | 754 |
| 8 | Dinesh Chandimal | SL | 733 |
| 9 | Jonny Bairstow | ENG | 729 |
| 10 | Dean Elgar | SA | 724 |
| 11 | Aiden Markram | SA | 703 |
| 12 | Ross Taylor | NZ | 697 |
| 13 | Kraigg Brathwaite | WI | 695 |
| 14 | Hashim Amla | SA | 673 |
| 15 | Azhar Ali | PAK | 672 |
| 16 | Francois du Plessis | SA | 665 |
| 17 | Alastair Cook | ENG | 651 |
| 18 | Kusal Mendis | SL | 641 |
Ashwin has also leap-frogged South Africa’s Vernon Philander to grab the third position among all-rounders.
ICC Men’s Test all-rounder rankings
| Pos | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 420 |
| 2 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 378 |
| 3 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 374 |
| 4 | Vernon Philander | SA | 370 |
| 5 | Jason Holder | WI | 354 |
| 6 | Ben Stokes | ENG | 334 |
| 7 | Chris Woakes | ENG | 269 |
| 8 | Moeen Ali | ENG | 253 |
*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
Photo: Mitchell Gunn/Getty Images
