Anderson reclaims No.1 bowling spot

Anderson had entered the Edgbaston Test trailing Ashwin by one point, but he has now opened up a 12-point gap over the India spinner. This is following Anderson’s four wickets against third-ranked Pakistan, which has earned him six points, as compared to Ashwin who has dropped six points despite taking six wickets against eighth-ranked West Indies in the Jamaica Test.

This is the second time in less than six weeks that Anderson has topped the bowling table. He had surged to the top of the chart for the first time in his career on 31 May after he took eight wickets in England’s nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Chester-le-Street. But the competition at the top of the table is so tight that the number-one ranking has thrice changed hands from Yasir Shah to Ashwin and back to Anderson.

Australia’s Mitchell Starc, Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera and Chris Woakes of England are the other bowlers to make impressive gains in the latest rankings.

Starc took 11 wickets in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka for which he has been rewarded with a jump of eight places. This now puts him in a career-high seventh position, making him the highest-ranked Australia bowler after Josh Hazlewood slipped three places to 10th.

Perera has vaulted 11 places to a career-best 16th position following his 10 wickets in Galle, making him the third Sri Lanka bowler inside the top 20 after Rangana Herath (eighth, up by one place) and Dhammika Prasad (19th, down by one place).

An impressive Woakes has continued to march up the rankings. Woakes had started the season in 87th position and has now broken into the top 20 in 20th position for the first time. In the Edgbaston Test, he took five wickets, which has helped him rise three places. Woakes now has 39 wickets in 11 Tests, including 31 wickets in five home Tests this season.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Ranking for Test Batsmen, Australia’s Steve Smith continues to lead the field. England’s Joe Root is second, 16 points behind, while New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is third.

Batsmen to make upward movement following the Edgbaston, Galle and Jamaica Tests include Alastair Cook to seventh (up by one place), David Warner to ninth (up by one place), Angelo Mathews to 10th (up by three places), Ajinkya Rahane to 11th (up by four places), Jonny Bairstow to 15th (up by one place), Kusal Mendis to 17th (up by four places), Azhar Ali to 18th (up by eight places), BJ Watling and Tom Latham to joint-28th, Moeen Ali to 33rd (up by eight places), Gary Ballance to 36th (up by five places) and Jermaine Blackwood 44th (up by 10 places).

West Indies’ Roston Chase, who scored a match-saving 137 not out against India, has rocketed 72 places to share 65th position with Alex Hales of England, while Pakistan opener Sami Aslam, who scored 82 and 70 at Edgbaston, has returned to the rankings in 67th position.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, Moeen Ali has achieved a career-high third position following scores of 63 and 86 not out as well as match figures of two for 128. Ashwin is the number-one ranked all-rounder, while Ali’s England team-mate Stuart Broad is fifth after slipping two places.

The player rankings will be now be updated following the Colombo Test.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s 2-0 lead over Australia in the three-Test series has thrown up a number of permutations with Australia, India, Pakistan and England all in with a chance to finish the month as the number-one ranked Test side on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings.

The following are the various scenarios (the Test predictor function is available here):

Sri Lanka v Australia

If Sri Lanka beats Australia 2-1, then Australia will finish on 111

If Sri Lanka beats Australia 2-0, then Australia will finish on 110

If Sri Lanka beats Australia 3-0, then Australia will finish on 108

West Indies v India

India beats West Indies 2-0, then India will finish on 110

India beats West Indies 3-0, then India will finish on 112

India beats West Indies 2-1, then India will finish on 108

England v Pakistan

England beats Pakistan 2-1, then England will finish on 110

England beats Pakistan 3-1, then England will finish on 112

England-Pakistan series ends in 2-all, then Pakistan will finish on 111

·       If Sri Lanka beats Australia 2-1, England-Pakistan series ends two-all and India beats West Indies by 2-0, then Australia and Pakistan will be on 111 points each but Australia will be ranked first

·       If Sri Lanka beats Australia 2-0, England beats Pakistan 2-1 and India beats West Indies 2-0, then Australia, England and India will be on 110 points each but England will be ranked first, followed by India and Australia

·       If England beats Pakistan 3-1 and India beats West Indies 3-0, then both England and India will be on 112 points each but India will be ranked first

·       If England-Pakistan series ends in two-all, Sri Lanka beats Australia by 3-0 or 2-0 and India beats West Indies by 2-1or 2-0, then Pakistan will become number-one ranked side

Forthcoming Tests:

9-13 Aug – 3rd Test, West Indies v India, Gros Islet

11-15 Aug – 4th Test, England v Pakistan, The Oval

13-17 Aug – 3rd Test, Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo

18-22 Aug - 4th Test, West Indies v India, Port of Spain

ICC MRF Tyres Test Team Rankings are only updated at the conclusion of a series

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 8 August, after Edgbaston, Galle and Jamaica Tests)

Batsmen (top 20)

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

   1         ( - )        Steve Smith         Aus        904        58.41    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   2         ( - )        Joe Root               Eng        888        55.49    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3         ( - )        Kane Williamson NZ         866        49.73    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

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

   5         ( - )        Adam Voges        Aus        824*!    79.55    824 v SL at Galle 2016

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

   7         (+1)       Alastair Cook      Eng        791        47.55    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

   8         (-1)        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        780        48.62    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

   9         (+1)       David Warner      Aus        770        48.82    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

  10        (+3)       Angelo Mathews SL          761        47.92    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

  11=      (-2)        Younus Khan       Pak        760        52.78    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

              (+4)       Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         760!      47.27    760 v WI at Jamaica 2016

  13        (-3)        Virat Kohli          Ind         748        46.25    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

  14        (-2)        Ross Taylor         NZ         747        47.00    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

  15        (+1)       Jonny Bairstow    Eng        713!      40.46    713 v Pak at Edgbaston 2016

  16        (-3)        Asad Shafiq         Pak        695        41.84    758 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  17        (+4)       Kusal Mendis      SL          692*!    41.06    692 v Aus at Galle 2016

  18        (+8)       Azhar Ali             Pak        678        42.85    753 v SL at Pallekele 2012

  19        (-1)        Sarfraz Ahmed    Pak        673        43.78    715 v SL at Galle 2015

  20=      (-3)        Murali Vijay        Ind         672        40.56    747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

              (-2)        C. Pujara              Ind         672        46.83    851 v SA at Durban 2013

Other selected rankings

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

  27        (-4)        M. Hafeez            Pak        594        39.22    642 v Eng at Sharjah 2015

  28=      (+2)       BJ Watling          NZ         589        38.57    644 v Eng at Headingley 2015

              (+2)       Tom Latham        NZ         589*     39.91    590 v SL at Dunedin 2015

  30        (-3)        Darren Bravo       WI         588        39.85    709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012

  32        (+1)       Shikhar Dhawan  Ind         574*     41.73    593 v SL at Galle 2015

  33        (+8)       Moeen Ali           Eng        571!      32.85    571 v Pak at Edgbaston 2016

  34        (-5)        Usman Khawaja  Aus        563*     44.03    613 v NZ at Wellington 2016

  35        (-2)        K. Brathwaite      WI         559        33.69    591 v Eng at Grenada 2015

  36        (+5)       Gary Ballance      Eng        542*     45.46    702 v WI at Grenada 2015

  41        (-6)        Joe Burns             Aus        514*     41.52    575 v NZ at Christchurch 2016

  42        (-6)        D. Karunaratne    SL          510        32.05    619 v WI at Galle 2015

  44        (+10)     J. Blackwood       WI         508*     33.03    575 v Eng at Barbados 2015

  45        (-2)        Shaun Marsh       Aus        506*     37.72    537 v WI at Hobart 2015

  46        (-3)        Marlon Samuels  WI         503        33.12    672 v Zim at Barbados 2013

  47        (-4)        Kaushal Silva      SL          481        29.90    638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  50        (-3)        R. Ashwin            Ind         471        33.00    527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

Bowlers (top 20)

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

   1         (+1)       James Anderson  Eng        881        28.17    884 v SL at Durham 2016

   2         (-1)        R. Ashwin            Ind         869        25.19    876 v WI at Antigua 2016

   3         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        854        28.32    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

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

   5         ( - )        Yasir Shah           Pak        791*     27.55    878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

   6         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         773*     23.76    789 v SA at Delhi 2015

   7         (+8)       Mitchell Starc     Aus        767!      27.88    767 v SL at Galle 2016

   8         (+1)       Rangana Herath   SL          766        29.43    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   9         (-1)        Trent Boult          NZ         762        28.87    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

  10        (-3)        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        755*     25.29    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

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

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

  13        (-1)        Tim Southee        NZ         707        31.92    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

  14        (-1)        Neil Wagner        NZ         692*!    30.52    692 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016

  15        (-1)        Nathan Lyon        Aus        665        32.78    696 v NZ at Wellington 2016

  16        (+11)     Dilruwan Perera  SL          658*!    26.78    658 v Aus at Galle 2016

  17        ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        614        33.29    700 v Zim at Khulna 2014

  18        (-2)        Peter Siddle         Aus        608        29.88    816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013

  19        (-1)        D. Prasad             SL          589*     35.97    632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  20        (+3)       Chris Woakes      Eng        581*!    25.69    581 v Pak at Edgbaston 2016

Other selected rankings

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

  22        (-2)        Ishant Sharma      Ind         573        37.05    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

  24        (-2)        Steven Finn         Eng        542        29.85    624 v NZ at Headingley 2013

  25        (+2)       M. Shami             Ind         506*!    34.47    506 v WI at Jamaica 2016

  27        (-1)        Moeen Ali           Eng        493*     41.05    557 v SA at Durban 2015

  28        (-4)        Umesh Yadav      Ind         485*     35.51    509 v WI at Antigua 2016

  32        ( - )        Rahat Ali             Pak        445*     38.68    456 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  34        (-1)        Amit Mishra        Ind         427*     34.36    467 v SA at Nagpur 2015

  35        (+1)       Doug Bracewell   NZ         410*     38.05    538 v WI at Jamaica 2012

  38        (+1)       Mark Craig          NZ         397*     45.56    405 v Aus at Wellington 2016

  40        ( - )        Devendra Bishoo WI         385*     40.05    426 v Ind at Delhi 2011

  46        ( - )        Mitchell Marsh   Aus        335*     34.55    349 v WI at Melbourne 2015

  48        ( - )        Shannon Gabriel  WI         329*     38.05    360 v Zim at Dominica 2013

  49        (+9)       L. Sandakan         SL          319*!    15.22    319 v Aus at Galle 2016

  50        (-1)        M. Siriwardana    SL          317*     23.36    327 v Eng at Durham 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         HS Rating

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         409       427 v WI at Antigua 2016

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

   3         (+3)       Moeen Ali           Eng        282 /*!  282 v Pak at Edgbaston 2016

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

   5         (-2)        Stuart Broad        Eng        273       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

*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