Amla, Philander, Rogers and Vijay make upward movements
South Africa captain Hashim Amla’s double-century against the West Indies in the Centurion Test has helped him return to the top three of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
Amla scored 208 and featured in a 308-run fourth wicket partnership with AB de Villiers (152), a performance that has helped him rise three places to third in the latest rankings, which were release on Saturday following the conclusion of Brisbane and Centurion Tests.
Amla now trails de Villiers by 10 ratings points, while he leads fourth-ranked Angelo Mathews by 21 ratings points. West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul has slipped two places to fifth and is now 26 points adrift of his South Africa counterpart.
Also making an upward movement from the Centurion Test is Vernon Philander, South Africa’s fast bowler. Philander, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2004 in Bangladesh, has moved up three places to third in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after figures of four for 29 and one for six.
Dale Steyn of South Africa has not only retained his number-one ranking, but while taking six for 34 in the second innings, he has achieved his career-best rating of 909 ratings points.
In doing so, he has joined compatriot Shaun Pollock (vs England, 25/11/1999), Richard Hadlee of New Zealand (vs Australia, 30/11/1985) and Pakistan’s Waqar Younis (vs Zimbabwe, 9/12/1993) who touched a career-high 909 ratings points.
From the Brisbane Test between Australia and India, Steven Smith, Murali Vijay, Chris Rogers and Ajinkya Rahane have made upward movements.
Smith, in his debut Test as Australia captain, scored 133 and 28, and has, therefore, moved up one place to seventh position. He how trails team-mate David Warner, who has fallen two places, by 31 ratings points.
Vijay, who scored 144 and 27, has gained eight places in the latest rankings to claim 20th position for the first time in his career. He now trails Virat Kohli, who has dropped three places to 19th in the batting chart, by 13 ratings points.
Two half-centuries in the Test have given Rogers a lift of five places and he is now in 28th spot, while Rahane’s 81 and 10 has earned him six places, which has put him in 41st position.
The batting table is headed by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, with de Villiers in second position.
Philander and Mitchell Johnson have gained a place each on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test All-rounders and are now sitting in second and fourth positions, respectively. The list is headed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, South Africa is now just one win away from sealing the number-one Test team ranking. If it wins the series, then it will retain the prestigious Reliance ICC Test Championship Mace as well as collecting a cash award of USD500,000. If South Africa beats the West Indies by 1-0 or better, then it will cement its place at the top of the tree, irrespective of how Australia-India or Sri Lanka-New Zealand series pans out.
The side that finishes second will receive USD390,000, while the third and fourth ranked sides will pocket USD280,000 and USD170,000, respectively.
Although the annual cut-off date for the Test team rankings is 1 April, the South Africa-West Indies series is one of the last three Test series to be played before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 starts on 14 February with the final scheduled on 29 March.
New Zealand hosts Sri Lanka in a two-Test series from 26 December in Christchurch with the visitors aware that if they have to finish inside the top four at the 1 April cut-off date, then they’ll have to win the series.
A 1-0 series win will put Sri Lanka on equal points with Pakistan but ahead in fourth position by 0.17 ratings point, while a 2-0 win will give it third position – one ratings point ahead of England.
In contrast, if the series ends in a draw, then Sri Lanka will slip to 100 ratings points and New Zealand will rise to 95 ratings points. A 1-0 win will put New Zealand on 98 ratings points as compared to Sri Lanka’s 97, while a 2-0 win will leave New Zealand on 99 ratings points while Sri Lanka will drop to 96 ratings points.
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the rankings table, please clickhere.The Test rankings table, unlike the ODI and T20I rankings tables, is updated after the conclusion of a series.
Upcoming Test fixtures
Australia v India
26-30 Dec – 3rd Test, Melbourne
6-10 Jan – 4th Test, Sydney
South Africa v West Indies
26-30 Dec – 2nd Test, Port Elizabeth
2-6 Jan – 3rd Test, Cape Town
New Zealand v Sri Lanka
26-30 Dec – 1st Test, Christchurch
3-7 Jan – 2nd Test, Wellington
Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table (as on 21 December. The Test Championship table is only updated at the conclusion of a series)
Rank Team Rating
1 South Africa 124
2 Australia 117
3 England 104
4 Pakistan 103
5 Sri Lanka 101
6 India 96
7 New Zealand 94
8 West Indies 75
9 Bangladesh 32
10 Zimbabwe 18
(Developed by David Kendix)
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 21 December, Brisbane and Centurion Tests, and before the start of Boxing Day Tests)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) K. Sangakkara SL 915 58.76 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 904 51.72 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
3 (+3) Hashim Amla SA 894 52.56 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (+1) Angelo Mathews SL 873! 52.65 873 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
5 (-2) S.Chanderpaul WI 868 52.74 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
6 (-2) David Warner Aus 849 48.98 880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014
7= ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 818 53.37 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
(+1) Steven Smith Aus 818! 47.75 818 v Ind at Brisbane 2014
9 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 789! 50.94 789 v Ind at The Oval 2014
10 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 783 45.95 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
16 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 681* 50.48 707 v Zim at Harare 2014
17 (+1) C. Pujara Ind 673 48.26 851 v SA at Durban 2013
19 (-3) Virat Kohli Ind 666 41.78 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
20 (+8) Murali Vijay Ind 653! 39.78 653 v Aus at Brisbane 2014
28 (+5) Chris Rogers Aus 616* 35.94 694 v Eng at Sydney 2014
35 (-4) MS Dhoni Ind 583 38.11 662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
41 (+6) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 543* 39.57 612 v Eng at The Rose Bowl 2014
45= (-1) Marlon Samuels WI 537 34.46 672 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
(-6) Shane Watson Aus 537 35.51 729 v Eng at Perth 2010
47 (-1) Alviro Petersen SA 525 35.68 655 v NZ at Cape Town 2013
48 (+1) K. Brathwaite WI 522*! 37.40 522 v SA at Centurion 2014
50 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 495* 37.92 527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 909! 22.44 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
2 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 851! 29.06 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
3 (+3) Vernon Philander SA 827 20.96 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
4= (-1) Mitchell Johnson Aus 824 27.71 849 v Pak at Dubai 2014
( - ) Ryan Harris Aus 824 23.12 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
6 (-1) James Anderson Eng 806 29.72 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
7= ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 774 29.90 783 v WI at Lord's 2012
(+1) Kemar Roach WI 774! 25.98 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
9 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 762* 27.85 767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
10 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 744 30.67 799 v WI at Kingston 2014
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
12 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 713 29.66 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 673 29.30 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
19 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 602 34.40 648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
20 (+1) Ishant Sharma Ind 594 36.88 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
21 (-1) Sulieman Benn WI 568* 36.55 574 v Ban at St Lucia 2014
41 (+1) Mitchell Starc Aus 393* 36.22 432 v Eng at The Oval 2013
42 (-1) Shane Watson Aus 390* 32.71 633 v SA at Cape Town 2011
45 (RE) Umesh Yadav Ind 371* 32.08 385 v Aus at Melbourne 2011
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 398 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
2 (+1) Vernon Philander SA 366*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
3 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 333*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
4 (+1) Mitchell Johnson Aus 304 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 296 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
*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, go to www.icc-cricket.com/team-rankings/test.