Anderson becomes No 1 Test bowler

KARACHI: Just weeks before their home series against Pakistan, England players are climbing up the international rankings’ ladder with paceman James Anderson at the helm.

Following a series of match-winning performances, Anderson has jumped above compatriot Stuart Broad at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test bowling rankings after his fine display in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka.

Anderson has become the number one bowler in Tests for the first time in his career after bowling his side to a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Chester-le-Street on Monday.

Anderson took three for 36 and five for 58, and, in doing so, has leapfrogged team-mate Stuart Broad and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin into the coveted number-one position. He now leads Broad by 15 points and Ashwin by 13 points.

For his efforts that also fetched him the man of the match award, Anderson has earned 30 points. This means in the two Tests against Sri Lanka, the 33-year-old Lancastrian has collected 79 points and has gained four spots in the rankings.

Anderson is the fourth England bowler to top the bowlers’ table since Ian Botham first achieved this feat in 1980. Steve Harmison stormed up the chart in 2004, while Broad vaulted to the number-one position earlier this year following the Johannesburg Test against South Africa.

Broad, who took five wickets in the Test, has slipped behind Ashwin to third place after conceding three points.

Other bowlers to improve their rankings post the Chester-le-Street Test are Nuwan Pradeep (43rd, up by five places), Milinda Siriwardana (50th, up by 13 places) and Chris Woakes (73rd, up by 16 places).

Pakistan’s best-placed bowler in the ICC Test rankings is their leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who is currently dogged by fitness problems. Yasir retained his fourth place in the rankings.

In the batting table, England’s Moeen Ali has achieved a career-high ranking.

The left-handed batsman scored 155 not out, his career-best score in 25 Tests, which helped England to declare its first innings at 498 for nine. For this achievement, Ali has earned 82 points that has lifted him 12 places to a career-high 35th position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

Opener Alex Hales has also continued to head in the right direction. After scoring 83 and 11, the 27-year-old batsman has moved up nine places to 70th.  In the past two Tests, Hales has claimed 47 places and looks strong to gain further spots as he is still in the qualification period. A batsman qualifies for a full rating after he has played 40 Test innings, while Hales has so far batted in only 11 Test innings.

Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, who scored 126 in the second innings, has moved up one place to 19th, while Nick Compton is now in 67th spot after rising one place.

Alastair Cook, who became the first England batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs while scoring 47 not out in the second innings, has retained his 15th position.

Australia captain Steve Smith is the number-one ranked Test batsman, followed by Joe Root of England and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. Pakistan’s Younis Khan remain unchanged at number five in the batters’ rankings.

In the all-rounders’ list, Ali has gained one place and is now sixth, just one point behind team-mate Ben Stokes. Ashwin is the number-one ranked all-rounder.