Kane Williamson reclaims No. 1 spot in Test rankings for batters, Steve Smith closes in

Seasoned New Zealand batter Kane Williamson has reclaimed the No. 1 position in the updated ICC Men’s rankings for Test batters. England batter Joe Root has slipped from first to fifth spot after being dismissed for 10 and 18 in the Lord’s Test against Australia.

Williamson, who has 883 rating points, has reclaimed the top spot for the first time since August 2021. Meanwhile, Australian batter Steve Smith is on the verge of moving to the top. He has jumped to the No. 2 position following his Man of the Match-winning effort at Lord’s and is only one rating point behind Williamson.

Smith notched up his 32nd Test ton in Australia’s first innings at Lord’s and followed it up with a handy 34 in the second essay. Three other Australian batters are also in the top 10 of the ICC Men’s Test rankings for batters - Marnus Labuschagne (3rd), Travis Head (4th), and Usman Khawaja (7th).

While Labuschagne contributed 47 and 30 at Lord’s, Head smashed 77 off 73 in the first innings. Khawaja chipped in with another defiant half-century in the second innings.

Among England’s batters, opener Ben Duckett, who scored 98 and 83 in the Lord’s Test, has moved up 24 places to the 18th spot. Also, skipper Ben Stokes has climbed nine spots to 23rd after his superb 155 on Day 5 of the same Test.

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Ashwin and Jadeja maintain top spots in updated Test rankings

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (860 points) remains the No. 1 bowler in Men’s Test cricket in the updated ICC rankings, while Ravindra Jadeja (434 points) has also retained his No. 1 position among all-rounders.

Australian captain Pat Cummins (826 points) has climbed two places in the bowlers’ rankings and is now at the No. 2 spot. The right-arm pacer claimed three wickets in the second innings at Lord’s. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc also gained two spots and now occupies 14th place.

England legend James Anderson has lost two places after another disappointing effort in the second Test against Australia. The right-arm pacer, who will turn 41 later this month, managed only two wickets at Lord’s.

On the other hand, newcomer Josh Tongue improved 27 spots to 59th place after impressing in the second Ashes 2023 Test. Tongue claimed five wickets in the Test match at Lord’s even as the hosts went down to Australia.