England’s James Anderson (above) holds the ball that took his 500th Test match wicket. GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images
England pace bowler James Anderson has grabbed the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after his superb effort in the third and final Test at Lord’s helped England win by nine wickets to seal a 2-1 series victory over the Windies.
The 35-year-old’s career-best figures of seven for 42 in an innings and a match haul of nine wickets see him overtake India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who he now leads by 12 points. The third and fourth places are also taken by spinners with India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath taking those positions.
Anderson, who was the top-ranked bowler in August 2016, has reclaimed the spot to become the oldest bowler to be number-one ranked since Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran in July 2009 and the oldest pace bowler to be at the top since Australia’s Glenn McGrath in January 2006.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been another major gainer in the rankings after his player of the match performance. His knock of 60 in the first innings has lifted him four places to a career-best 20th position among batsmen while his first-innings haul of six for 22 sees him gain two places to reach 21st position among bowlers. These efforts also see him overtake team-mate Moeen Ali to take fourth place among all-rounders.
Other England players to move up include Moeen, who has gained one spot to reach 19th place among bowlers, while Toby Roland-Jones has gained one spot to take a career-best 41st slot.
For the Windies, batsman Shai Hope, who was jointly named player of the series along with Anderson, has continued his upward surge, gaining 11 slots to take a career-best 30th position while opener Kieran Powell has moved up 18 slots to 68th position.
Among its bowlers, pace bowler Kemar Roach has moved up four places to 24th position after a five-wicket haul in the first innings while captain Jason Holder has moved up three places to 33rd position.
Meanwhile, there has been no change in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings following the series with England and the Windies retaining their pre-series 105 and 75 points, respectively.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 10 September 2017, after the England v Windies series)
Rank Team Points
1 India 125
2 South Africa 110
3 England 105
4 New Zealand 97
5 Australia 97
6 Pakistan 93
7 Sri Lanka 90
8 West Indies 75
9 Bangladesh 74
10 Zimbabwe 00
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 10 September, after the third and final Test between England and the Windies at Lord’s):
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Steve Smith Aus 936 59.66 941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017
2 ( – ) Joe Root Eng 889 53.76 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
3 ( – ) K. Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4 ( – ) C. Pujara Ind 876 52.65 888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
5 ( – ) David Warner Aus 807 47.94 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 806 49.55 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017
7 ( – ) Azhar Ali Pak 769 46.86 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
8 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 764 49.00 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
9 (+1) Lokesh Rahul Ind 761*! 46.27 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
10 (+1) A. Rahane Ind 760 47.61 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
20 (+4) Ben Stokes Eng 664! 35.72 664 v Win at Lord’s 2017
30 (+11) Shai Hope Win 610*! 31.12 610 v Eng at Lord’s 2017
68 (+18) Kieran Powell Win 423 26.96 468 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 (+1) J. Anderson Eng 896! 27.39 896 v Win at Lord’s 2017
2 (-1) R. Jadeja Ind 884 23.60 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
3 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 852 25.26 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
4 ( – ) R. Herath SL 809 28.25 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
5 ( – ) J. Hazlewood Aus 794 25.75 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
6 ( – ) K. Rabada SA 785* 24.56 821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
7 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 763 22.30 909 v Win at Centurion 2014
8 ( – ) Nathan Lyon Aus 752 ! 31.83 752 v Ban at Chittagong 2017
9 ( – ) V. Philander SA 751 22.45 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
10 (+1) Neil Wagner NZ 745 28.90 767 v SA at Dunedin 2017
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
19 (+1) Moeen Ali Eng 608 37.32 633 v Win at Edgbaston 2017
21 (+2) Ben Stokes Eng 596*! 33.93 596 v Win at Lord’s 2017
24 (+4) Kemar Roach Win 561 30.20 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
33 (+3) Jason Holder Win 488*! 36.61 488 v Eng at Lord’s 2017
41 (+1) T. R-Jones Eng 414*! 19.64 414 v Win at Lord’s 2017
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( – ) S. Al Hasan Ban 456 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 ( – ) R. Jadeja Ind 430 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 422 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
4 (+1) Ben Stokes Eng 396/*! 396 v Win at Lord’s 2017
5 (-1) Moeen Ali Eng 378 409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
*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