Top ranked Anderson breaches coveted 900-point mark
Dubai, Aug 13 (IBNS): James Anderson has become only the seventh England bowler and the first in 38 years from 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 nine for 43 have enabled him to reach 903 points and join a select group comprising 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.
Anderson, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests with 553 scalps and the only one to claim 100 Test wickets at Lord’s, is the first England bowler to breach the coveted mark since Botham touched 900 points in August 1980. Anderson now leads second-placed South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada by 21 points in the bowlers’ list.
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 position 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 to the top 10, in ninth place. 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 rankings.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has conceded the top spot for batsmen just over a week after overtaking Steve Smith, failing to lift his team out of difficult situations in the Lord’s Test. The India captain played knocks of 23 and 17 even as his side succumbed 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. Ashwin has also leap-frogged South Africa’s Vernon Philander to grab the third position among all-rounders.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has moved up 25 places to take 74th spot among bowlers.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 13 August, following the Lord’s Test):
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 (+1) Steve Smith Aus 929 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
2 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 919 53.64 934 v Eng at Edgbaston 2018
3 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 851 51.90 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 847 50.35 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( - ) David Warner Aus 820 48.20 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 759 49.44 888 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 (+3) Jonny Bairstow Eng 729 39.24 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
10 (-1) Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
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 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 673 47.23 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
15 ( - ) Azhar Ali Pak 672 44.84 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
16 ( - ) Faf du Plessis SA 665 42.33 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
17 ( - ) Alastair Cook Eng 651 45.27 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
18 ( - ) Kusal Mendis SL 641 36.78 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018
19 (+1) Usman Khawaja Aus 633 42.00 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017
20 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 632 39.69 694 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 903! 26.83 903 v Ind at Lord's 2018
2 ( - ) Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
3 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 849 23.11 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 802 25.38 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
6 ( - ) Pat Cummins Aus 800*! 23.81 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
7 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 795 27.84 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
8 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 791 27.95 867 v Zim at Harare 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 (+1) Stuart Broad Eng 750 28.80 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
13 (-1) Jason Holder Win 731*! 29.35 731 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 ( - ) M. Shami Ind 679 29.12 703 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
20 ( - ) Kemar Roach Win 667 28.31 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 420 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 378 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 374 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
4 (-1) V. Philander SA 370 379 v SL at Galle 2018
5 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 354/* 355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
