Dubai, Dec 18 England’s premier batter Joe Root has made a return as the top-ranked Test batter in the ICC Rankings. Root, who made scores of 32 and 54 during the third Test against New Zealand in Hamilton, replaces his compatriot Harry Brook, who spent just one week as number one in the standings.
As per the latest update to the rankings, Root is now at 895 rating points, which is 19 points above Brook, who was dismissed for just zero and one as New Zealand beat England by 423 runs.
New Zealand batter Kane Williamson’s scores of 44 and 156 helped him close the gap on the leading two while Tom Latham (up six places to 31st), Will Young (up 13 places to a career-best 36th), Tom Blundell (up three places to 37th) and Mitchell Santner (up 17 places to 76th) are other batter making jumps in the rankings.
New Zealand pacer Matt Henry’s dominance over Zak Crawley has been a highlight as he dismissed the England opener in all six innings of the series, and his latest six-wicket match haul has lifted him two places to a career-best seventh position in the bowlers rankings.
His team-mate Will O’Rourke continues the impressive start to his Test career and is currently in joint-30th place while England’s Gus Atkinson finished his first year in Test cricket at number 14. Santner, who was Player of the Match in New Zealand’s win at Hamilton, also attained a career-best 39th position with seven wickets in the Test.
Veteran pacer Tim Southee retires from Test cricket as 26th position holder among bowlers, while reaching a career-best ranking of third that he first attained in June 2021. He has also been a top 10 bowler in white-ball formats - achieving a career-high ninth position in ODIs and sixth in T20Is.
Meanwhile, in the T20I Rankings, West Indies’ left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein’s haul of 2-13 against Bangladesh in Kingstown has lifted him three places to being the new number one ranked bowler in the shortest format.
He replaces England’s Adil Rashid, who had been number one for a year – having taken over the top spot on December 14, 2023. Bangladesh spinner Mahedi Hasan has jumped a whopping 18 places to be at 23rd place in rankings for T20I bowlers.
South Africa batter Reeza Hendricks is back into the top 10 after notching a century against Pakistan in Centurion, and is at ninth place. West Indies’ Rovman Powell (up 10 spots to equal 22nd), his team-mate Johnson Charles (up six places to 19th), and Pakistan’s Babar Azam (up one spot to sixth) have also moved up in the batting rankings.
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