England’s Joe Root has once again become the world’s top-ranked Test batter at Lord’s. Root scored 104 and 40 runs in the match, helping England win by 22 runs and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. He now has 888 rating points and has taken the No.1 spot from fellow Englishman Harry Brook, who has 862 points.
This is the eighth time Root has been ranked No.1 in the world. At 34 years old, he’s the oldest player to be at the top since Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara held the position at age 37 in 2014.
Other Big Performers in Test Rankings:
- Australia’s Steve Smith moved up one spot in the rankings after scoring 48 runs in a tough match against the West Indies.
- Cameron Green jumped 16 places to 29th after scoring 46 and 42 in the same match.
- Scott Boland had a great match, taking six wickets including a hat-trick. He is now ranked 6th – his highest ever – and has taken 62 wickets in Tests at an incredible average of just 16.53.
- Mitchell Starc stayed in 10th place but gained points, now just one behind the 9th ranked bowler, Marco Jansen.
Australia now has five bowlers in the top 10:
- Pat Cummins (3rd)
- Josh Hazlewood (4th)
- Scott Boland (6th)
- Nathan Lyon (8th)
- Mitchell Starc (10th)
This is the strongest bowling dominance since England had six bowlers in the top 12 back in 1958.
Read more: ‘Can Play the Other Two’: Jofra Archer Eyes India Tests and Ashes After Lord’s Comeback
Other Players Who Made Big Jumps:
- Shamar Joseph of West Indies jumped 15 places to 14th.
- Justin Greaves moved up 15 spots to 65th.
- Alzarri Joseph climbed two spots to 29th.
- India’s Washington Sundar moved up 12 spots to 46th after performing well against England.
- Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Thushara and Bangladesh’s Rishad Hossain also made big jumps in the rankings.
- Binura Fernando entered the top 50 for the first time.
- In T20I All-Rounders rankings, Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka) rose to 22nd, and Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) climbed to 6th after scoring a quick 54 not out against South Africa.
