Australia’s crushing win in the fourth Ashes Test against England at Manchester has led to massive improvement in the rankings of the players responsible for the triumph. Steve Smith and Pat Cummins were the main protagonists of Australia’s dominant show and the duo has further consolidated their position on the top of the ICC Test rankings.
Smith, who returned from a one year ban, has made an immediate impact on international cricket, scoring a bucketful of runs to wrest back the top spot from Indian captain Virat Kohli. Smith’s player of the match effort of 211 and 82 runs in the two innings has lifted him to 937 rating points, only 10 less than his all-time best aggregate achieved in December 2017. He is now 34 points ahead of India captain Virat Kohli and virtually assured of remaining at the top at the end of the five-match series.
A match haul of seven for 103 has helped Cummins equal his career-best aggregate of 914 points, which is the joint fifth best of all time and joint best for Australia along with Glenn McGrath, who reached his best in 2001. Cummins is a good 63 rating points ahead of South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, with India’s Jasprit Bumrah in third place. Josh Hazlewood is in the top 10 for the first time this year, progressing from 12th to eighth.
{{/usCountry}}A match haul of seven for 103 has helped Cummins equal his career-best aggregate of 914 points, which is the joint fifth best of all time and joint best for Australia along with Glenn McGrath, who reached his best in 2001. Cummins is a good 63 rating points ahead of South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, with India’s Jasprit Bumrah in third place. Josh Hazlewood is in the top 10 for the first time this year, progressing from 12th to eighth.
{{/usCountry}}Afghanistan’s 224-run conquest over Bangladesh in Chattogram has resulted in major gains for their players. Former captain Asghar Afghan’s scores of 92 and 50 have taken him from 110th to 63rd position while Rahmat Shah’s century in the first innings has helped him move from 93rd to 65th. Captain Rashid Khan’s player of the match effort of 11 for 104 has lifted him from 69th to 37th while all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has retired from Tests in 85th position after gaining 21 slots.
(With ICC inputs)