Stokes moves up to career-best rankings

Cricket365
August 1, 2017

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has moved up to take career-best positions in both batting and bowling, in the ICC Test Player Rankings after a fine show in the third Test against South Africa at The Oval, which his side won by 239 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

Stokes has moved up 12 places to joint-25th position in the rankings for batsmen with scores of 112 and 31, while also gaining two places to reach 19th position in the list for bowlers after grabbing one for 26 and two for 51.

His effort also sees him overtake South Africa’s Vernon Philander to take fifth position in the list of all-rounders.

In the latest rankings, which also take into account performances in the first Test at Galle in which India defeated Sri Lanka by 304 runs on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, saw other England players make notable gains too.

Jonny Bairstow has gained three slots to reach ninth position with scores of 36 and 63, opening batsman Alastair Cook has moved up three places to 12th position with scores of 88 and seven, while in the bowlers’ rankings, James Anderson (up one place to joint-third) and Moeen Ali (up one place to 18th) have made upward movement.

Debutants Tom Westley (70th) and Toby Roland-Jones (54th) have entered the rankings in style among batsmen and bowlers, respectively.

For South Africa, left-handed opener Dean Elgar’s innings of eight and 136 have lifted him three places to 15th position while left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has gained four slots and attained a career-best 22nd position after his four wickets at The Oval.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan’s scores of 190 and 14 have lifted the left-hander 21 slots to 39th position, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has leapfrogged Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath to wrest back the second position among bowlers to again make it a 1-2 for India with Ravindra Jadeja retaining the top spot.

Pace bowler Mohammad Shami has gained one slot to reach 23rd rank.

Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews has gained two places to reach 17th position after scores of 83 and two at Galle, while batsman Dimuth Karunaratne (up three places to 36th) and pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep (up three places to a career-best 30th) are the others to move up the rankings.

Batting rankings

Rank ( /-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( – ) Steve Smith Aus 941! 61.05 941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2 ( – ) Joe Root Eng 885 53.26 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3 ( – ) K. Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4 ( – ) C. Pujara Ind 866 ! 52.18 866 v SL at Galle 2017

5 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 826 50.03 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

6 ( 2) Azhar Ali Pak 769 46.86 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

7 ( 2) David Warner Aus 759 47.42 880 v NZ at Perth 2015

8 (-2) Q. de Kock SA 756* 46.65 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

9 ( 3) J. Bairstow Eng 745 40.86 759 v Ind at Mohali 2016

10 (-3) Hashim Amla SA 741 48.91 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013