Top-ranked Anderson breaches coveted 900-point mark

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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 9/43 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.

Read More : Virat Kohli on top of the world

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.

Kusal Mendis in Wisden’s Golden Boy top 10 list

South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been named Wisden’s Golden Boy of 2018, an award for the best men’s cricketer in……

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.

Read More : Broad, Anderson hand England a comprehensive win

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.

Kohli overtook Smith in the Test batting rankings for only a brief period

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.

Akila Dananjaya moves up to career-best position in ICC Rankings

Following a prolific series, JP Duminy, the South Africa all-rounder, rose several places in the batting and all-rounder……

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

*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