ICC Test Rankings: England's James Anderson breaks into top five
England's seasoned campaigner James Anderson has broken into the top five of ICC Test Rankings for Bowlers despite his team's horror show at the MCG in the recently concluded Boxing Day Test. Anderson bowled well for England, who lost by an innings and 14 runs. Meanwhile, India's Ravichandran Ashwin is static at the second spot in both bowlers and the all-rounders list.
- Anderson has been England's leading wicket-taker for over a decade now.
- He is 39 years old and the fact that is he the only England bowler to make it to the top five is a testimony of his skill, technique, and longevity.
- He claimed a four-wicket haul in England's only bowling innings at MCG.
- He (639) is the third-highest wicket-taker in Tests overall.
The top four in the bowling chart are Pat Cummins, Ashwin, Shaheen Afridi, and Tim Southee have retained their positions. Anderson has moved three places up to be on fifth place (813 rating points). Josh Hazlewood, Kagiso Rabada, and Neil Wagner have slipped one place down each. Mitchell Starc and Kyle Jamieson are static at ninth and 10th respectively.
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli (756) and limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma (797) have retained their positions at seventh and fifth respectively in the Test batting chart. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne is leading the table with 915 points. He is closely followed by Joe Root (900). Kane Williamson (879) has moved to third place while Steve Smith (877) has slipped down to the fourth spot.
In the ICC Test Rankings for all-rounders, Ashwin and Jadeja remain second and third respectively. West Indies' Jason Holder is leading the list while Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan is occupying the fourth position. Starc has moved a place up to be fourth while Ben Stokes slipped to the fifth spot.
Australian seamer Scott Boland, who was handed his debut in The Ashes at the MCG, made his first appearance in the ICC Test Rankings. Boland bagged seven wickets in the Boxing Day Test. He took figures worth 6/7 in the second innings. The Victorian pacer amassed 271 points for his efforts to finish at the 74th spot in the Test Rankings for Bowlers.
