West Indies skipper Jason Holder has become the first West Indies player in 45 years to top the list of all-rounders in the ICC Test Player Rankings, after his power-packed unbeaten double-century that helped script a memorable 381-run win over England in the first Test in Bridgetown.
Sir Gary Sobers was at the top as long ago as March 1974, and Holder has now emulated him following his 202 not out off 229 balls in the second innings in Bridgetown. This is the third-highest score by a number eight batsman in Test history after the Pakistan pair of Wasim Akram (257 not out) and Imtiaz Ahmed (209).
Holder, who was associated with Shane Dowrich (116 not out) in an unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership of 295, leapfrogged Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and India’s Ravindra Jadeja to grab the number one spot for the first time in his career.
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Holder has also moved up the batting rankings to take a career-best 33rd position, after gaining 25 places.
Dowrich has moved up to a career-best 47th position among batsmen, having also scored 81 in the first innings of the match. Others to benefit in the update, which also took into account performances from the first Test in Brisbane that Australia won against Sri Lanka by an innings and 40 runs, included Shimron Hetmyer (up 11 places to 40th) among batsmen, and Kemar Roach (up five places to 20th) and Roston Chase (up 14 places to 41st) among bowlers. For England, Ben Stokes has moved up one place to 29th among bowlers.
READ ALSO: Holder, second best Test average in 100 years
For Australia, Travis Head has moved up 17 places to 43rd after scoring 84 runs in the Test, while fast bowler Pat Cummins’s player of the match effort of a 10-wicket match haul has helped him move up one slot to grab a career-best third position among bowlers. His rating points are the highest for an Australian bowler since Ryan Harris tallied 870 in March 2014.
Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella has gained nine slots to take 37th position among batsmen after scores of 64 and 24, while Suranga Lakmal (up two places to 31st) and Lahiru Kumara (up one place to 39th) have made upward movements among bowlers.
ICC Test Player Rankings (as at 27 January 2019)
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
1 | ( – ) | Virat Kohli | Ind | 922 | 53.76 | 937 |
2 | ( – ) | K. Williamson | NZ | 897 | 51.44 | 915 |
3 | ( – ) | C. Pujara | Ind | 881 | 51.18 | 888 |
4 | ( – ) | Steve Smith | Aus | 866 | 61.37 | 947 |
5 | ( – ) | Joe Root | Eng | 775 | 49.87 | 917 |
6 | ( – ) | David Warner | Aus | 764 | 48.20 | 880 |
7 | ( – ) | Henry Nicholls | NZ | 763*! | 43.54 | 763 |
8 | ( – ) | Aiden Markram | SA | 741* | 45.96 | 759 |
9 | (+1) | Hashim Amla | SA | 711 | 47.33 | 907 |
10 | (-1) | D. Karunaratne | SL | 694 | 36.64 | 754 |
Other selected rankings
Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
33 | (+25) | Jason Holder | Win | 581! | 33.86 | 581 |
37 | (+9) | N. Dickwella | SL | 567 | 31.10 | 576 |
40 | (+11) | S. Hetmyer | Win | 561*! | 32.09 | 561 |
43= | (+17) | Travis Head | Aus | 544*! | 36.91 | 544 |
47 | (+14) | Shane Dowrich | Win | 529! | 29.86 | 529 |
51= | (+2) | Shai Hope | Win | 514 | 28.57 | 653 |
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
1 | ( – ) | K. Rabada | SA | 882 | 21.41 | 902 |
2 | ( – ) | J. Anderson | Eng | 875 | 26.92 | 903 |
3 | (+1) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 866*! | 22.47 | 866 |
4 | (-1) | V. Philander | SA | 809 | 21.73 | 912 |
5 | ( – ) | R. Jadeja | Ind | 794 | 23.68 | 899 |
6 | ( – ) | Trent Boult | NZ | 771 | 27.90 | 825 |
7 | ( – ) | M. Abbas | Pak | 770* | 18.86 | 838 |
8 | ( – ) | Tim Southee | NZ | 767 | 29.93 | 799 |
9 | ( – ) | R. Ashwin | Ind | 763 | 25.43 | 904 |
10 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | Win | 759* | 28.29 | 766 |
All-rounders (top five)
Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
1 | (+2) | Jason Holder | Win | 440/* | 441 |
2 | (-1) | S. Al Hasan | Ban | 415 | 489 |
3 | (-1) | R. Jadeja | Ind | 387 | 438 |
4 | ( – ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 344 | 396 |
5 | ( – ) | V. Philander | SA | 341 | 378 |
*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