Chance for Anderson to move back towards top spot

• Captain Root is the highest ranked batsman from either side while Kevin O’Brien is the pick of the Ireland players in the four-day Lord’s Test

Anderson, who was overtaken by South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada in November last year and subsequently by the present No. 1 Pat Cummins of Australia, is ranked second and has a chance to bridge the 16-point gap in the one-off Lord’s Test before featuring in a potential direct contest with Cummins in the subsequent Ashes series.

Anderson’s fellow England fast bowler Stuart Broad (19th) will be looking to retain a top-20 place, which he has maintained since 2009, while Moeen Ali (25th, 621 points) is only 12 points behind his best ever rating points achieved in August 2017.

Captain Joe Root is the highest-ranked batsman on either side in sixth place while Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are in 26th and 27th places, respectively.

For Ireland, Kevin O’Brien’s scores of 40 and 118 on debut against Pakistan and a subsequent half-century against Afghanistan have lifted him to 68th place while Gary Wilson is 140th in the batting table. Stuart Thompson is their highest-ranked bowler in 64th position with Tim Murtagh just two places behind. Boyd Rankin, who played one Test for England in 2014, would be looking to improve his 106th position.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, England will remain in fourth position and on 105 points if they win the match but will go down to 104 in case of a draw and to 102 should they suffer a loss. Ireland will gain 13 points with a draw and 30 if they win, but will still need to play another five matches for a full ranking.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 22 July, before the one-off England-Ireland Test)

Batsmen (top 10)

Other selected rankings

Bowlers (top 10)

Other selected rankings

All-rounders (top five)

*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

For more information on player rankings, please click here.

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