Anderson and Root soar in Test rankings after Edgbaston triumph

England fast bowler James Anderson has climbed to second place in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after helping inspire the hosts to an eight-wicket victory inside three days against Australia in Edgbaston on Friday.

The Lancashire man, who turned 33 during his 107th Test appearance, claimed match figures of seven for 62 to leap four places to second and he is now 80 points behind South Africa’s Dale Steyn who is currently in action against Bangladesh in Mirpur. Though Anderson has already been ruled out of contention for the fourth Test in Trent Bridge next week because of a side strain, there was further good news for Alastair Cook’s men in that his team-mate Steven Finn, playing in his first Test in more than two years, put in a man of the match performance and has re-entered the rankings in 19thposition after taking match figures of eight for 117.

As a consequence of Anderson’s rise, Mitchell Johnson has dropped a place and is now joint fifth alongside Stuart Broad on 791 points. However Johnson reached a significant personal milestone by passing 300 wickets in Birmingham.

Despite the defeat, there was a career high gain for the leading wicket-taker in the series, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, who has moved up three places to 14th after claiming his 14th wicket of the series to date, while off-spinner Nathan Lyon has risen one place to 15th.

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen Steven Smith continues to lead the way at the top, but Joe Root has climbed three places to third after scoring 63 and 38 not out which means that in 30 Test matches to date, the Sheffield man has scored seven centuries and 13 fifties. Root now stands on 882 points, 17 behind South Africa’s AB de Villiers. Ian Bell has climbed six places to 30th after back-to-back half centuries (53 and 65 not out) on his home county ground, while there were also advances for Moeen Ali (up 11 to a career high 52nd) and Broad (up four places to 78th).

It was a disappointing Test for Australia’s top order batsmen all round, with none gaining ground and skipper Michael Clarke dropping two places to 22nd. However Mitchell Starc’s scores of 11 and 58 have helped the 25-year-old climb four places to 83rd.

After a fine all-round performance, Moeen Ali has climbed two places to a career high seventh position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test All-rounders, while there was also a career high gain for left arm pacer Starc who rises three places to draw level with team-mate Shane Watson in ninth. Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh remains the number-one ranked all-rounder in an unchanged top five.

The fourth Test starts at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Thursday, 6 August.

Meanwhile, with the Bangladesh and South Africa Test match at the midway point in Mirpur, further movements in the player rankings are expected over the coming days.

ICC TEST PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 1 August, after third Ashes Test in Edgbaston)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
1 ( - ) Steven Smith Aus 912 56.55 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
2 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 899 52.09 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
3 (+3) Joe Root Eng 882 55.02 884 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
4 (-1) Hashim Amla SA 881 52.48 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5 (-1) K. Sangakkara SL 874 58.04 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
6 (-1) A. Mathews SL 860 51.67 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
7 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 829 54.07 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
8 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 813 45.70 860 v Eng at Lord's 2015
9 ( - ) Chris Rogers Aus 783 43.63 793 v Eng at Lord's 2015
10 ( - ) David Warner Aus 762 46.66 880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014
Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
19 (-1) Alastair Cook Eng 698 46.36 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
22 (-2) Michael Clarke Aus 670 49.73 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
30 (+6) Ian Bell Eng 618 43.61 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
35 (-3) Ben Stokes Eng 571* 34.56 594 v Aus at Lord's 2015
52 (+11) Moeen Ali Eng 485*! 30.76 485 v Aus at Edgbaston 2015
58 (-2) Jos Buttler Eng 439* 38.64 494 v NZ at Headingley 2015
76 (-1) M. Johnson Aus 363 22.90 477 v Eng at Lord's 2009
78 (+4) Stuart Broad Eng 358 22.92 505 v Ind at The Oval 2011
82 (-12) Adam Voges Aus 347* 40.00 441 v WI at Jamaica 2015
83= (+4) Mitchell Starc Aus 345* 26.77 368 v Eng at The Oval 2013
(RE) Jonny Bairstow Eng 345* 26.00 461 v Aus at Durham 2013
89 (-2) Peter Nevill Aus 311*! 35.33 311 v Eng at Edgbaston 2015
93 ( - ) Adam Lyth Eng 283* 22.20 333 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
100 (-11) Mitchell Marsh Aus 265* 30.70 322 v Ind at Adelaide 2014
Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking

1           ( - )          Dale Steyn            SA           903        22.58     909 v WI at Centurion 2014  
2           (+4)         James Anderson  Eng         823        29.38     847 v WI at Barbados 2015  
3           (-1)          Trent Boult           NZ          814        27.12     825 v Eng at Lord's 2015  
4           (-1)          Yasir Shah            Pak         810\*!    24.81     810 v SL at Pallekele 2015  
5=        (-1)          M. Johnson           Aus         791        27.78     849 v Pak at Dubai 2014  
             ( - )          Stuart Broad         Eng         791        29.67     801 v Aus at Cardiff 2015  
7           ( - )          V. Philander          SA           783        21.92     912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013  
8           ( - )          Rangana Herath  SL           752        30.17     851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014  
9           ( - )          Tim Southee         NZ          713        31.63     799 v WI at Jamaica 2014  

10 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 709 29.58 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
14 (+3) Josh Hazlewood Aus 626*! 20.34 626 v Eng at Edgbaston 2015
15 (+1) Nathan Lyon Aus 617 34.07 648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
19 (RE) Steven Finn Eng 581* 28.19 624 v NZ at Headingley 2013
20 (-1) Mitchell Starc Aus 575* 32.11 589 v Eng at Cardiff 2015
33 (-5) Moeen Ali Eng 451* 35.38 480 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
63 (-1) Ben Stokes Eng 277* 46.87 352 v Ind at Lord's 2014
80 (-3) Joe Root Eng 189* 40.33 196 v Aus at Lord's 2015
All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Ranking
1 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 383 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
2 ( - ) V. Philander SA 343*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
3 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 336*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
4 ( - ) M. Johnson Aus 287 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 ( - ) S. Broad Eng 283 382 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