ICC Test Rankings: James Anderson back in the top 10
English fast bowler James Anderson is back in the top-10 spot in ICC Test Rankings. Anderson moved back to the top-10 after briefly dropping out of it since the preceding home series against the West Indies. This comes as a huge boost for England as Anderson didn’t have a great series against WI and needed to get back to his normal form and prove his critics wrong. Pat Cummins retains his place as the number 1 ranked Test bowler in the ICC Test Rankings as well.
The formerly top-ranked bowler has gained six slots to reach the eighth position after a Test that saw him grab his 29th five-wicket haul in the first innings and become the first fast bowler to 600 wickets after he
took Azhar Ali’s wicket yesterday. He has retained his top. Indian pacer James Anderson replaced Jasprit
Bumrah to become the 8th ranked bowler in the ICC Rankings.
Crawley scored a 250+ score and as a result, jumped 53 spots to reach a career-best 28th position after recording the 10th highest individual score for England and their second-highest maiden Test century. He had started the series in 95th position but his 320-run aggregate has made him the fourth-best ranked England batsman after only eight Tests, behind Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jos Buttler.
The Man of the series Jos Buttler is another English player to make notable progress in the latest rankings update after scoring a fine 152 in his side’s only innings of the Test. He has reached a career-best 637 rating points and 21st position, three off his best of 18th achieved in November 2018. West Indies skipper Jason Holder in the meanwhile retained his top spot as the No.1 all-rounder in the ICC Test Rankings.
For Pakistan, captain Azhar Ali’s return to form with a solid 141 in the first innings and a 31 in the 2nd innings has seen him gain 11 places and reach 23rd position, while wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has gained three slots to reach 72nd position after a fighting half-century in the first innings.