McCullum’s Historic Effort Lands Him Career-Best Ranking. Dale Steyn Back As No. 1 Bowler

Reliance ICC Player Rankings
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum’s spectacular match-saving knock of 302 in the Wellington Test against India has helped him jump eight places to a career-best 12th in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum now placed at 12th in ranking. Photo by Shiek Mohamed

McCullum, who became the first New Zealand batsman to score a triple hundred, helped draw the second and final Test in Wellington on Tuesday, to thereby win the series 1-0.

Named the Player of the Match in the Wellington Test, McCullum shares 12th position with Australia’s David Warner (up by three).  Warner scored 115 in the second innings of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion, a match won by his side by 281 runs.

McCullum’s partner in a world record sixth-wicket partnership worth 352, BJ Watling, has also moved up the rankings, jumping three places to 45th as a result of his knock of 124.

Meanwhile, India’s Virat Kohli has moved up two places to a career-high of ninth, following knocks of 38 and 105 not out in the Wellington Test, to break into the top 10 of the batting table for the first time in his career.

Kohli joins seventh-ranked teammate Cheteshwar Pujara (down by one) as the only two India batsmen inside the top 10.

Two other centurions in the Wellington Test have also made upward moves in the latest table, Ajinkya Rahane is now in 46th (up by 15), while New Zealand’s debutant century-maker Jimmy Neesham has entered the rankings in 59th place. Neesham shares the position with fellow first-timer Alex Doolan of Australia.

Australia’s Shaun Marsh, meanwhile, has made a return to the table in 63rd position following scores of 148 and 44 in the Centurion Test against South Africa.

South Africa’s AB de Villiers continues to top the batting table, followed by Kumar Sangakkara in second position and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies in third place.

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has continued to storm through the charts in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers. Johnson has jumped five places to fourth following his spectacular match-winning haul of 12 for 127 in the Centurion Test against South Africa.

Johnson, named Player of the Match for his 12-wicket haul, has enjoyed a spectacular run this season and now has a total of 49 wickets from six successive Tests.

Johnson, who first entered the top ten of the bowlers’ table in November 2008, reached a career-best second in March 2009. The left-arm fast bowler remained a permanent fixture in the top five until October 2010.

Vernon Philander has ceded the number-one position in the bowlers’ table to teammate Dale Steyn after a 55-day reign at the top.

Philander, who became the number-one ranked bowler on 22 December 2013, picked up one wicket in the Centurion Test to drop 11 ratings points and finish on 898, three ratings points behind Steyn.

South Africa’s spearhead Steyn, who had figures of four for 78 and two for 61 in either innings of the Centurion Test, has retained his pre-series ratings points.

Steyn first reached the number-one position on 3 April 2008 when he drew level with Muttiah Muralidaran for one week. He regained the top spot in July 2009 when he overtook Muralidaran.

Thereafter, Steyn spent 187 matches or 1630 days as the top-ranked bowler, the second-most number of matches at the top to date after Muralidaran.  Steyn’s run was ended when Philander overtook him in December 2013.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Ryan Harris continues to be the highest-ranked bowler for his side, after  retaining his pre-series third position.

This means that when the second Test between South Africa and Australia gets underway on Thursday in Port Elizabeth, the top four ranked bowlers will be seen in action, with Peter Siddle in sixth position (down by one) closely following them.

New Zealand’s Tim Southee moved up a place to a career-best ninth following his match haul of five for 143 in the Wellington Test against India. Southee is now on 757 ratings points, just 10 behind eighth-ranked teammate Trent Boult.

Forthcoming fixtures
South Africa v Australia
20-24 February: Second Test, Port Elizabeth
1-5 March: Third Test, Cape Town

To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please click here. The Test Ranking Table, unlike the ODI and T20I Rankings tables, are updated after every series.

Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table (as on 18 February, after the New Zealand v India series)
Rank    (+/-)       Team                          Rating      (+/-)
1                         South Africa               133
2           (-)          India                           112              (-5)
3                         Australia                     111
4                         England                      107
5                         Pakistan                      100
6                         Sri Lanka                      89
7             (+1)     New Zealand                87            (+5)
8             (-1)      West Indies                  87
9                         Zimbabwe                    34
10                       Bangladesh                  19

(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Tests (as on 19 February after Wellington and Centurion Tests):

Batsmen

Rank     (+/-)       Player                      Team      Pts          Ave         HS Rating
1           ( – )          AB de Villiers        SA           926!       51.98     926 v Aus at Centurion 2014
2           ( – )          K Sangakkara      SL           879         58.07     938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3           ( – )          S.Chanderpaul     WI          876         51.93     901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4           ( – )          Hashim Amla       SA           850         50.91     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5           ( – )          Ross Taylor          NZ          842         46.94     871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
6           (+1)         Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak         824!       48.75     824 v SL at Sharjah 2014
7           (-1)          C Pujara                Ind          819*      58.92     851 v SA at Durban 2013
8           ( – )          Michael Clarke    Aus         813         51.33     900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
9           (+2)         Virat Kohli            Ind          784!       46.51     784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
10         ( – )          Younus Khan       Pak         759         51.38     880 v SL at Lahore 2009
11         (-2)          Graeme Smith      SA           750         49.11     843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
12=       (+8)         B McCullum         NZ          724!       38.09     724 v Ind at Wellington 2014
(+3)         David Warner       Aus         724         41.85     741 v Eng at Perth 2013
14         (-2)          Angelo Mathews  SL           706         46.16     716 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
15         (-2)          M Jayawardena   SL           699         50.30     883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
16         (+7)         Steven Smith        Aus         691*!    38.45     691 v SA at Centurion 2014
17         (-1)          Ian Bell                  Eng         682         45.41     822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
18         (-1)          Alastair Cook       Eng         677         46.51     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
19         (-1)          Kevin Pietersen    Eng         674         47.28     909 v WI at Headingley 2007
20         (+1)         Jonathan Trott     Eng         641         46.45     856 v SL at Cardiff 2011

Selected Rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                      Team     Pts          Ave      HS Rating
21         (-2)          Kane Williamson NZ          640         36.37     654 v Ind at Auckland 2014
22         (-8)          Chris Rogers         Aus         639*      37.13     694 v Eng at Sydney 2014
27         (+6)         MS Dhoni              Ind          604         38.77     662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
28         (-3)          Brad Haddin        Aus         602         36.22     637 v WI at Perth 2009
34         (+2)         Rohit Sharma       Ind          578*!    56.87     578 v NZ at Wellington 2014
36         (-8)          Faf du Plessis        SA           571*      53.53     605 v Ind at Durban 2013
37         (-8)          Alviro Petersen     SA           566         37.30     655 v NZ at Cape Town 2013
43         (-5)          Murali Vijay         Ind          530*      35.24     569 v SA at Durban 2013
45         (+3)         BJ Watling            NZ          515*!    35.22     515 v Ind at Wellington 2014
46         (+15)      Ajinkya Rahane  Ind          513*!    47.37     513 v NZ at Wellington 2014
50         (+8)         Shikhar Dhawan  Ind          475*!    48.54     475 v NZ at Wellington 2014
59=       (NEW)    Alex Doolan         Aus         435*!    58.00     435 v SA at Centurion 2014
(NEW)    Jimmy Neesham  NZ          435*!    170.00  435 v Ind at Wellington 2014
63         (RE)        Shaun Marsh        Aus         432*!    37.92     432 v SA at Centurion 2014
65         (-4)          JP Duminy            SA           413*      31.82     466 v Aus at Brisbane 2012
76         (+3)         Vernon Philander SA           388*!    24.28     388 v Aus at Centurion 2014
77         (-3)          H Rutherford        NZ          381*      30.55     454 v Eng at Wellington 2013
83         (-1)          Robin Peterson     SA           354*      27.29     365 v Ind at Durban 2013
84         (-6)          Peter Fulton          NZ          353*      26.83     413 v Eng at Auckland 2013
87         (-6)          Corey Anderson   NZ          344*      32.70     367 v Ind at Auckland 2014
88         (+3)         Mitchell Johnson Aus         343         22.59     477 v Eng at Lord’s 2009
100        (-2)          Tim Southee         NZ          302         19.00     304 v Eng at Headingley 2013

Bowlers

Rank     (+/-)       Player                      Team     Pts          Ave      HS Rating
1           (+1)         Dale Steyn            SA           901         22.90     908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2           (-1)          Vernon Philander SA           898         18.75     912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
3           ( – )          Ryan Harris          Aus         852*      22.02     866 v Eng at Sydney 2014
4           (+5)         Mitchell Johnson Aus         819         27.50     825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5           (-1)          Saeed Ajmal         Pak         787         27.46     855 v Zim at Harare 2013
6           (-1)          Peter Siddle           Aus         779         28.69     816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
7           (-1)          Rangana Herath  SL           774         30.02     838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
8           (-1)          Trent Boult           NZ          767*!    26.59     767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
9           (+1)         Tim Southee         NZ          757!       30.69     757 v Ind at Wellington 2014
10         (-2)          R Ashwin               Ind          744         28.50     808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
11         (+1)         Stuart Broad         Eng         729         30.31     783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
12         (-1)          Pragyan Ojha       Ind          726         30.26     773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
13         (+1)         Abdur Rehman    Pak         705*      27.75     739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
14         (+1)         James Anderson  Eng         683         30.67     813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
15         (-2)          Morne Morkel      SA           681         30.35     776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
16         ( – )          Kemar Roach       WI          649*      27.71     712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
17         (+1)         Junaid Khan         Pak         623*!    29.07     623 v SL at Sharjah 2014
18         (-1)          Ben Hilfenhaus    Aus         620*      28.50     757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
19         ( – )          Nathan Lyon        Aus         614         32.58     648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
20=       ( – )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        613         33.36     680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
( – )          S Shillingford        WI          613*      32.32     652 v NZ at Dunedin 2013

Selected Rankings

Rank     (+/-)      Player                 Team     Pts          Ave        HS Rating
22         ( – )          Zaheer Khan        Ind          581         32.94     752 v SA at Durban 2010
24         (+1)         Ishant Sharma     Ind          548         37.56     671 v WI at Dominica 2011
27         (-3)          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          507*      26.30     570 v SA at Durban 2013
28         ( – )          Neil Wagner          NZ          504*      35.00     505 v Ind at Auckland 2014
40         (+1)         M Shami               Ind          422*!    29.48     422 v NZ at Wellington 2014
63         (-16)       Corey Anderson   NZ          276*      30.54     377 v WI at Hamilton 2013
64         (+5)         Robin Peterson     SA           259*      37.26     335 v NZ at Port Elizabeth 2013
71=       (+2)         JP Duminy            SA           226*      40.38     302 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
( – )          Kane Williamson NZ          226*      41.13     291 v Eng at Headingley 2013
95         ( – )          Michael Clarke    Aus         134*      37.63     265 v NZ at Wellington 2005

All-rounders

Rank    (+/-)       Player                       Team     Pts          HS Rating
1          ( – )          R Ashwin               Ind          373*/    419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
2           ( – )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban         364        404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3           ( – )          Vernon Philander SA           348*/ !  348 v Aus at Centurion 2014
4           ( – )          Stuart Broad         Eng         291        382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
5           (+1)         Mitchell Johnson Aus         281        384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

* 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