Root breaks into the top five for the first time

De Villiers back as number-one ranked batsman; Broad, Starc, Hazlewood and Moeen Ali achieve career-best rankings

England vice-captain Joe Root has broken into the top five for first time in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after producing a man of the match performance in the first Ashes Test against Australia in Cardiff.

Root, who scored 134 and 60 in England’s 169 runs victory, has jumped three places to claim fourth position in the latest rankings, which were released on Sunday morning. In doing so, the Yorkshireman has leapfrogged Sri Lanka duo Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews, and Younus Khan of Pakistan.

Root now has Hashim Amla firmly within his sights as he is now just seven points behind the South Africa captain after his Cardiff performance has earned him 69 points to give him a career-high 884 points.

The Cardiff Test also saw Australia’s Steven Smith hand over the number-one position to South Africa’s AB de Villiers. Smith had entered the Test on 913 points but after scores of 33 and 33, he has dropped 12 points to fall to 901 points, seven behind de Villiers. De Villiers will miss the two-Test series against Bangladesh, which means a couple of strong performances will put the 26-year-old from Sydney back on top of the tree.

Other notable batsmen to head in the right direction following the Cardiff Test include Chris Rogers in 21st (up by two places), Gary Ballance in 31st (up by two places), Ben Stokes in 37th (up by seven places) and Moeen Ali in 65th (up by 19 places).

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, England’s Stuart Broad has claimed fifth position for the first time in his career after rising one place following his five wickets in the match, including three in the second innings. This has also helped him break the 800-point threshold for the first time as he now trails Pakistan’s Yasir Shah by nine points.

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has slipped two places to seventh but Mitchell Starc has claimed a career-high 17th position. Starc returned figures of five for 114 and two for 60, which gave him a leap of three places.

Josh Hazlewood has followed in the footsteps of Starc by also achieving a career-high ranking of 21st. Hazlewood took five for 132, which has vaulted him five places to 21st. He now trails Pakistan’s 20th ranked Junaid Khan by three points.

Moeen Ali has followed up his career-high batting ranking with a career-best bowling ranking after his two for 71 and three for 59 has lifted him nine places to 28th spot.

South Africa’s Dale Steyn is the top-ranked bowler, followed by England’s James Anderson and Trent Boult of New Zealand.

Thanks to his fine contribution with the bat and ball, Moeen has also gained valuable places in the all-rounders’ category. He has broken into the top 10 in ninth position for the first time after jumping nine places. Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh remains the number-one ranked all-rounder.

The second Test starts at Lord’s on Thursday, 16 July.

ICC TEST PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 12 July, after first Ashes Test in Cardiff)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
1 (+1) AB de Villiers SA 908 52.09 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
2 (-1) Steven Smith Aus 901 55.27 913 v WI at Jamaica 2015
3 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 891 52.78 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (+3) Joe Root Eng 884! 56.06 884 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
5 (-1) K. Sangakkara SL 874 58.04 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
6 (-1) Angelo Mathews SL 860 51.67 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
7 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 829 54.07 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
8 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 813 45.70 860 v Eng at Lord's 2015
9 (+1) Virat Kohli Ind 755 45.73 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
10 (-1) David Warner Aus 749 46.47 880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014

Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
17 (-5) Michael Clarke Aus 707 50.31 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
20 (-5) Alastair Cook Eng 694 46.55 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
21 (+2) Chris Rogers Aus 691* 40.00 694 v Eng at Sydney 2014
31 (+2) Gary Ballance Eng 600* 50.30 702 v WI at Grenada 2015
35 ( - ) Ian Bell Eng 585 43.61 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
36 (+7) Ben Stokes Eng 570*! 35.31 570 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
44 (-2) Shane Watson Aus 521 35.19 729 v Eng at Perth 2010
53 (-1) Jos Buttler Eng 476* 46.18 494 v NZ at Headingley 2015
57 (-3) Brad Haddin Aus 464 32.98 637 v WI at Perth 2009
65 (+19) Moeen Ali Eng 427*! 30.44 427 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
69 (-9) Adam Voges Aus 409* 66.33 441 v WI at Jamaica 2015
77 (+4) Mitchell Johnson Aus 384 23.34 477 v Eng at Lord's 2009
85 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 334 22.84 505 v Ind at The Oval 2011
86 (+4) Adam Lyth Eng 333*! 32.16 333 v Aus at Cardiff 2015

Bowlers

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

1           ( - )          Dale Steyn            SA           905         22.55     909 v WI at Centurion 2014  
2           ( - )          James Anderson  Eng         823         29.39     847 v WI at Barbados 2015  
3           ( - )          Trent Boult           NZ          814         27.12     825 v Eng at Lord's 2015  
4           ( - )          Yasir Shah            Pak         810\*!    24.81     810 v SL at Pallekele 2015  
5           (+1)         Stuart Broad         Eng         801!       29.59     801 v Aus at Cardiff 2015  
6           (+1)         Vernon Philander SA           780         21.95     912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013  
7           (-2)          Mitchell Johnson Aus         766         28.01     849 v Pak at Dubai 2014  
8           ( - )          Rangana Herath  SL           752         30.17     851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014  
9           ( - )          Morne Morkel      SA           727         29.35     776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011  

10 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 713 31.63 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
17 (+3) Mitchell Starc Aus 589*! 31.43 589 v Eng at Cardiff 2015
21 (+5) Josh Hazlewood Aus 548*! 20.34 548 v Eng at Cardiff 2015
28 (+9) Moeen Ali Eng 480*! 31.73 480 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
41 (-4) Shane Watson Aus 395* 33.68 633 v SA at Cape Town 2011
55 (+12) Mark Wood Eng 306*! 32.15 306 v Aus at Cardiff 2015
60 (-4) Ben Stokes Eng 296* 44.26 352 v Ind at Lord's 2014
86 (+8) Joe Root Eng 172*! 39.00 172 v Aus at Cardiff 2015

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Ranking
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 381 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
2 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 341*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
3 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 336*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
4 ( - ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 294 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 268 382 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