Australia’s Steven Smith has regained top spot in the International Cricket Council’s Test batting rankings following a man-of-the-match display in his side’s commanding 405-run win over England in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Sunday.
Smith made a Test-best 215 in Australia’s first innings 566 for eight declared and added a quickfire 58 in their second innings during a victory which saw the tourists level the five-match series at 1-1.
The 26-year-old had been dethroned as the world’s leading Test batsman by AB de Villiers after he was twice out for 33 in Australia’s 169-run defeat by England in the Ashes opener in Cardiff.
However, the in-form Smith – who has now scored six hundreds in his last eight Tests – has regained first place from de Villiers and leads the South Africa star by 28 ranking points in the ICC standings.
#ICC #Test Ranking for Batsman: * Steve Smith Back to No.1 * Chris Rogers is at 9th * David Warner is at 10th * No Indian in the Top 10
— Cricket Record (@record_cricinfo) July 20, 2015
Smith’s current rating of 936 is the highest of his career and the 10th highest all-time achieved by any batsman in the ICC system.
The Lord’s Test also saw a career-high gain for veteran Australia opener Chris Rogers who, in the first of the innings of the match, made a Test-best 173 and followed up with an unbeaten 49 in Australia’s second innings 254 for two declared.
Rogers climbed 12 places into ninth spot on 793 points, 20 behind New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.
David Warner, Rogers’s opening partner remained in 10th spot, while Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, has dropped three places to 20th.
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England’s Joe Root moved down two places to sixth.
Meanwhile Australia left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson has climbed three places to fourth position in the ICC’s Test bowler rankings after taking six for 80 at Lord’s.
That left the 33-year-old with 299 Test wickets in a 68-match career and Johnson will be eyeing a significant landmark when the third Ashes Test gets underway at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground on July 29.
Lord’s conquered by the Aussies! #SteveSmith was named the man of the match for his batting heroics. #TheAshes pic.twitter.com/mWZXWpISII
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) July 20, 2015
One more wicket will see Johnson become only the fifth Australian to take 300 Test wickets after leg-spin great Shane Warne (in second place on the all-time list on 708 wickets), and the pace trio of Glenn McGrath (in fourth place on 563), Dennis Lillee (in 20th place on 355) and Brett Lee (in 25th place on 310).
Johnson currently lies in 28th place overall, eight wickets behind the tally of late England fast bowling great Fred Trueman, the very first cricketer to take 300 Test wickets when he reached the landmark in 1964.
Leading ICC Test player rankings as of July 20 after second Ashes Test at Lord’s (rank, change in ranking, player, team, ranking points, average, highest ranking points):
BATTING
01 (+01) Steven Smith AUS 936 58.52 936 v ENG at Lord’s 2015
02 (-01) AB de Villiers RSA 908 52.09 935 v AUS at Port Elizabeth 2014
3 (-) Hashim Amla RSA 891 52.78 907 v PAK at Abu Dhabi 2013
04 (+01) Kumar Sangakkara SRI 874 58.04 938 v ENG at Kandy 2007
05 (+01) Angelo Mathews SRI 860 51.67 877 v NZL at Christchurch 2014
06 (-02) Joe Root ENG 850 54.02 884 v AUS at Cardiff 2015
07 (-) Younus Khan PAK 829 54.07 880 v SRI at Lahore 2009
08 (-) Kane Williamson NZL 813 45.70 860 v ENG at Lord’s 2015
09 (+12) Chris Rogers AUS 793 44.33 793 v ENG at Lord’s 2015
10 (-) David Warner AUS 764 46.86 880 v IND at Adelaide 2014
BOWLING
01 (-) Dale Steyn RSA 905 22.55 909 v WIS at Centurion 2014
02 (+1) Trent Boult NZL 814 27.12 825 v ENG at Lord’s 2015
03 (+1) Yasir Shah PAK 810 24.81 810 v SRI at Pallekele 2015
04 (+3) Mitchell Johnson AUS 801 27.71 849 v PAK at Dubai 2014
05 (-) Stuart Broad ENG 800 29.62 801 v AUS at Cardiff 2015
06 (-4) James Anderson ENG 787 29.73 847 v WIS at Barbados 2015
07 (-1) Vernon Philander RSA 780 21.95 912 v IND at Johannesburg 2013
08 (-) Rangana Herath SRI 752 30.17 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
09 (-) Morne Morkel RSA 727 29.35 776 v AUS at Cape Town 2011
10 (-) Tim Southee NZL 713 31.63 799 v WIS at Jamaica 2014
