New Zealand bowlers are marching up the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after the side’s historic series’ win against the West Indies in Bridgetown on Monday. New Zealand won the third Test by 53 runs to claim its first away series triumph against a top-eight team in 12 years.
Kemar Roach has gain his career-best ranking of 10th.
Spearheading the charge up the rankings are Trent Boult, Mark Craig, and Tim Southee, who all claimed three victims apiece in the second innings to stop the host in its tracks, after New Zealand set the West Indies a target of 308 on the last day of the match.
As a result, paceman Trent Boult, who’s ability to move the ball both ways has made him a mainstay in the New Zealand side, has broken into the top ten on the rankings table. He has climbed two spots to bag ninth position after returning match figures of two for 71 and three for 28. He becomes the second New Zealander in the top ten, joining Tim Southee, who demolished the West Indies middle order in the second innings, claiming three victims for just 28 runs, thereby retaining sixth spot.
Mark Craig has proved himself to be an able replacement for Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel, taking a total of four wickets for 174 runs in the match to leap seven spots to claim 71st position on the rankings table.
Neil Wagner’s four for 64 and one for 50 has helped him achieve his career-best ranking to date, with the left-hander jumping six places to land just outside the top 20 at number 22.
West Indies will take consolation from the fact that Kemar Roach has been rewarded for his match haul of eight wickets for 116 runs with a career-best ranking of 10th. Roach has jumped five places and now shares the position and the same ratings points as Australia’s Peter Siddle.
West Indies’ debutant Jason Holder has entered the rankings table for the first time in 96th position, while Jimmy Neesham has broken into the top 100 for the first time, jumping up 10 places to land on 97.
Jimmy Neesham is also seen heading in the right direction in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. Having made 78 runs in the first innings and following it up with 51 in the second, Neesham has shown the most improvement on the batting table. He has climbed 17 places to achieve his career best ranking to date, and now sits in 43rd position.
New Zealand’s centurion Kane Williamson has been rewarded for his 161 not out in the second innings with a jump of five places to claim 14th spot.
Also making positive moves in the batting rankings are West Indies’ Kirk Edwards in 58th (up by four) and Kraigg Brathwaite in 62nd (up by seven).
Meanwhile, the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings Table has shown no movement. Australia remains top-ranked with 123 ratings points, with South Africa a close second. However, with England and India locking horns in a Test series beginning 9 July, and Sri Lanka playing against South Africa from 16 July, some movement is likely in the coming weeks.
A 5-0 clean sweep by either fifth-ranked England or fourth-ranked India could see either team leap into third position, while a loss by that margin could see them drop as low as seventh. For South Africa, a 2-0 series’ win could see the side topple Australia from the top of the perch to regain the number one position, while a clean sweep for Sri Lanka could see the side move as high as fourth in the Test rankings.
Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table (as on 30 June, after the West Indies v New Zealand series)
Rank (+/-) Team Rating (+/-)
1 Australia 123
2 South Africa 123
3 Pakistan 103
4 India 102
5 England 100
6 Sri Lanka 96
7 New Zealand 93
8 West Indies 74
9 Zimbabwe 40
10 Bangladesh 21
(Developed by David Kendix)
Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Tests (as on 30 June, after Bridgetown Test):
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 922 51.94 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
2 ( – ) K Sangakkara SL 896 58.63 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 873 51.35 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (+1) David Warner Aus 871! 46.54 871 v SA at Cape Town 2014
5 (-2) S.Chanderpaul WI 854 51.88 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
6 ( – ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 824! 48.75 824 v SL at Sharjah 2014
7 ( – ) C Pujara Ind 819* 58.92 851 v SA at Durban 2013
8 ( – ) Michael Clarke Aus 818 51.50 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
9 (-1) Ross Taylor NZ 795 46.43 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
10 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 784! 46.51 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
11 ( – ) A Mathews SL 761! 48.40 761 v Eng at Headingley 2014
12 ( – ) Younus Khan Pak 759 51.38 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
13 ( – ) Steven Smith Aus 737*! 40.02 737 v SA at Cape Town 2014
14 (+5) K Williamson NZ 728! 40.28 728 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
15 (-1) M Jayawardena SL 696 50.18 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
16 (-1) Chris Rogers Aus 675* 38.14 694 v Eng at Sydney 2014
17 ( – ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 661 47.28 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
18 ( – ) Ian Bell Eng 657 45.12 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
19 (-3) B McCullum NZ 651 37.10 724 v Ind at Wellington 2014
20 (+1) Faf du Plessis SA 636*! 52.42 636 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
21 (-1) Darren Bravo WI 633 43.92 709 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
28 (-3) Chris Gayle WI 605 42.00 755 v SL at Galle 2010
37 (-3) BJ Watling NZ 556 37.11 574 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2014
43 (+17) Jimmy Neesham NZ 519*! 64.00 519 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
48 ( – ) Denesh Ramdin WI 493! 27.74 493 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
58 (+4) Kirk Edwards WI 426* 34.21 524 v Aus at Bridgetown 2012
62 (+7) K Brathwaite WI 408*! 28.72 408 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
67 (-15) Tom Latham NZ 387* 39.62 441 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2014
76 (NEW) Jason Holder WI 350*! 45.00 350 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
83= (-7) H Rutherford NZ 334* 27.08 454 v Eng at Wellington 2013
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 898 23.01 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 ( – ) Ryan Harris Aus 870! 22.56 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
3 ( – ) V Philander SA 865 20.11 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
4 ( – ) M Johnson Aus 844! 27.42 844 v SA at Cape Town 2014
5 ( – ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 787 27.46 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
6 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 783 29.83 799 v WI at Kingston 2014
7 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 744 28.50 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
8 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 739 30.51 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
9 (+2) Trent Boult NZ 737* 27.45 767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
10= (+5) Kemar Roach WI 733! 27.04 733 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
(-1) Peter Siddle Aus 733 29.37 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
12 (-2) J Anderson Eng 731 30.36 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
13 (-1) Pragyan Ojha Ind 726 30.26 773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
14 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 719 30.43 783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
15 (-1) Abdur Rehman Pak 705* 27.75 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
16 ( – ) Morne Morkel SA 637 30.97 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
17 ( – ) Junaid Khan Pak 623*! 29.07 623 v SL at Sharjah 2014
18 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 613 33.36 680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
19 (+1) Nathan Lyon Aus 607 32.99 648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
20 (+1) Zaheer Khan Ind 581 32.94 752 v SA at Durban 2010
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
21 (-3) S Shillingford WI 561* 34.55 652 v NZ at Dunedin 2013
22 (+6) Neil Wagner NZ 549*! 33.89 549 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
30 ( – ) Sulieman Benn WI 461* 40.60 494 v SA at Bridgetown 2010
38 (+1) Doug Bracewell NZ 364* 36.26 538 v WI at Kingston 2012
42 (-5) Jerome Taylor WI 332* 34.45 717 v Eng at Kingston 2009
71= (+7) Mark Craig NZ 207* 40.83 256 v WI at Kingston 2014
96 (NEW) Jason Holder WI 73*! 25.00 73 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
97 (+10) Jimmy Neesham NZ 70*! 49.75 70 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 376*/ ! 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
2 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 373*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
3 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 364 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
4 ( – ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 280 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 274 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
14 (-1) Chris Gayle WI 142/* 282 v Eng at St John’s 2009
17 (+1) Trent Boult NZ 139*/* 158 v Ind at Auckland 2014
34 (+5) Neil Wagner NZ 89*/*! 89 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
62 (+33) Jimmy Neesham NZ 36*/*! 36 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
72 (NEW) Jason Holder WI 26*/*! 26 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014