AB stays 2 as Root takes No 1

Joe Root has climbed to the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time after helping England defeat Australia by an innings and 78 runs in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.

But the poor showing by the previous No 1, Australia’s wunderkind Steve Smith, sees him slipping to No 3, while AB de Villiers remains locked at No 2. Hashim Amla is also unchanged at No 4

Root has also become just the sixth English player to hit the top of either the batting or bowling rankings since 1980. The full list is as follows; Ian Botham (bowling, 1980 for 361 days), David Gower (batting, from 1984-86 for 198 days), Graham Gooch (batting, from 1991-94 for 988 days), Michael Vaughan (batting, in 2003 for 44 days) and Steve Harmison (bowling, in 2004 for 120 days).

Stuart Broad, meanwhile, thanks to his 8-15 against the woeful Aussies, climbs to  a career-high second place in the bowling rankings with 852 points. He is still 53 points behind the immovable Dale Steyn. His teammate James Anderson has dropped one place to third, while Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has also fallen two places to seventh. The numbers also mean that Vernon Philander rises one place to sixth.

Broad has now captured 308 wickets in 83 Tests to date and is 17 behind Bob Willis on the England all-time list.

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