LONDON: England players made big gains in the latest Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings, which were released on Monday, a day after England won the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s by 347 runs.
The stars of England’s win were rewarded for their efforts with jumps in the latest rankings. Ian Bell is now at 11th position in the Test Player Rankings for Batsmen, just three ratings points behind New Zealand’s Ross Taylor.
Bell made scores of 109 and 74 in the Lord’s Test.
England opener Joe Root, who won the Player of the Match award for his 468-minute knock of 180, moved up 21 places to 26th position. He is now the sixth England batsman inside the top 30.
Graeme Swann finished with 4 for 78 as Australia were bowled out for 235 in their second innings.
Swann claimed nine wickets in the match and was the key performer for England. He has gained one place and is now seventh, just five ratings points behind Anderson and Siddle. Joe Root, who earlier scored 180 as England declared at 349 for 7 in their second innings, also took 2 for 9.
Jonny Bairstow is now just outside the top 50 in 53rd spot after rising 12 places after making scores of 67 and 20. The batting table is still headed by South Africa’s Hashim Amla with West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul in second place and AB de Villiers in third position.
Meanwhile, in the Test Player Rankings for Bowlers, James Anderson moved up one place to join Peter Siddle in fifth spot, and both the bowlers now trail fourth-placed Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan by 25 ratings points.
For Australia, Ryan Harris was the biggest mover, jumping 13 places to a career-best 15th following his spells of five for 72 and two for 31. Harris also achieved his career-best ratings of 649 in the Lord’s Test.
Other bowlers on the move include Tim Bresnan, who rose six places to 29th. England now has five bowlers inside the top 30. South Africa’s Dale Steyn continues to head the bowlers’ table with teammate Vernon Philander in second place and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath in third position.
