Root moves back into top five of Test Rankings

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Joe Root moves to joint-fifth in MRF Tyres ICC Test Batting Rankings; Wood advances 12 places in bowler’s list after Player-of-the-Match performance.

  • Buttler, Stokes and Chase others to move up among batsmen, Wood, Roach and Moeen Ali advance in bowlers’ list

England captain Joe Root has moved into the top five in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after his fine century in the third Test against the Windies in St Lucia, which his side won by 232 runs on Tuesday.

The former number one Test batsman has gained three places to reach joint-fifth position after scores of 15 and 122, making a strong comeback on the rankings table after slipping from 827 to 740 points over the previous four Tests. He is now on 763 points, tied with New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls in the list for batsmen. Root’s career-high rankings points were 915 in 2015, the year that also saw him hold the No.1 position for 45 days.

Others to move up in the list for batsmen after the St Lucia Test include his teammates Jos Buttler (up eight places to 26th) after scores of 67 and 56 and all-rounder Ben Stokes (up seven places to 34th) after scores of 79 and 48 not out.

St Lucia Player of the Match Mark Wood has moved up 12 places to 52nd position after his six wickets in the match while Moeen Ali’s seven wickets have helped him move from 28th to joint-26th place in the list for bowlers. Ali is on 621 points, the same as South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, and only 12 points shy of his own best rating points.

Windies’ Kemar Roach was the leading wicket-taker across both sides in the series with England

For the Windies, fast bowler Kemar Roach has moved up one slot to 11th position after finishing with five wickets in the match. Roach has completed a fine run, having started the series in 24th position, gaining 13 places over three Tests after his Player of the Series effort of 18 wickets.

Meanwhile, England have slipped to fifth position in the MRF Tyres ICC  Test Team Rankingsafter losing the series 2-1, while the Windies have moved up to 77 points but remain in eighth position.

Starting the series in third place, England have slipped behind New Zealand and Australia to 104 points. Australia are ahead of them on decimals after winning both Tests of their recent two-match series against Sri Lanka that helped them gain three points.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 13 February, after the Windies-England series):

RANK TEAM POINTS
1 India 116
2 South Africa 110
3 New Zealand 107
4 Australia 104
5 England 104 (-4)
6 Sri Lanka 89
7 Pakistan 88
8 West Indies 77 (+7)
9 Bangladesh 69
10 Zimbabwe 13
11 Afghanistan 00
12 Ireland 00

 

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 13 February, after the St Lucia Test):

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank  (+/-)      Player  Team Pts Avge   Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 922 53.76 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018
2 ( – ) K. Williamson NZ 897 51.44 915 v SL at Wellington 2018
3 ( – ) C. Pujara Ind 881 51.18 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
4 ( – ) Steve Smith Aus 857 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
5= (+3) Joe Root Eng 763 49.51 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
( – ) Henry Nicholls NZ 763*! 43.54 763 v SL at Christchurch 2018
7 (-1) David Warner Aus 756 48.2 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
8 (-1) Aiden Markram SA 741* 45.96 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
9 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 711 47.33 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
10 ( – ) Dean Elgar SA 693 40.1 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018

 

Other selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
26 (+8) Jos Buttler Eng 624 35.87 635 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2018
34 (+7) Ben Stokes Eng 590 33.89 664 v Win at Lord’s 2017
41 (+10) Roston Chase Win 552 33.08 626 v Pak at Dominica 2017
110 (+49) Joe Denly Eng 273*! 28 273 v Win at St Lucia 2019

 

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( – ) K. Rabada SA 882 21.41 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
2 ( – ) Pat Cummins Aus 878*! 22.02 878 v SL at Canberra 2019
3 ( – ) J. Anderson Eng 862 26.93 903 v Ind at Lord’s 2018
4 ( – ) V. Philander SA 809 21.73 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( – ) R. Jadeja Ind 794 23.68 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
6 (+1) Trent Boult NZ 771 27.9 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
7= (-1) Jason Holder Win 770* 27.69 778 v Eng at Antigua 2019
(+1) M. Abbas Pak 770* 18.86 838 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2018
9 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 767 29.93 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
10 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 763 25.43 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

 

Other selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
11 (+1) Kemar Roach Win 744 27.17 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
26= (+2) Moeen Ali Eng 621 36.37 633 v Win at Edgbaston 2017
51 (+2) Alzarri Joseph Win 299*! 32.84 299 v Eng at St Lucia 2019
52 (+12) Mark Wood Eng 298* 37.36 369 v Pak at Dubai 2015

 

All-rounders (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Jason Holder Win 439/* 448 v Eng at Antigua 2019
2 ( – ) S. Al Hasan Ban 415 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
3 ( – ) R. Jadeja Ind 387 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
4 (+1) Ben Stokes Eng 357 395 v Win at Lord’s 2017
5 (-1) V. Philander SA 341 377 v SL at Galle 2018

*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