Stokes, Root gain, England a win away from toppling New Zealand in the ICC Test Team Ranking

Stokes, Root gain, England a win away from toppling New Zealand in the ICC Test Team Ranking: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the ICC Test Team and Players following the first test match between hosts England and visitors New Zealand at the Lords. With the second test match in sight, England now has a chance to switch positions with the Kiwis who are at the 3^rd spot in the Ranking. If England either win or tie the Headingley test match, they will have enough points to replace New Zealand at number three and Brendon McCullum’s team will slide down to number 7 in the ICC test team Raking.

Ben Stokes, the star of England’s 124 runs victory over New Zealand in the Lord’s Test, has led the home side’s charge in the latest Reliance ICC Test Players Ranking, which were released on Tuesday morning.

Stokes, who along with Joe Root and Jos Buttler played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2009-10 in New Zealand, scored 92 and 101, and also took three for 38 runs on the final day. For this performance, he not only won the player of the match award but has also vaulted in the rankings.

The 23-year-old Durham player has rocketed 27 places to 44^th spot in the batting table; has moved up four places to 51^st position in the bowlers’ chart and has jumped 12 places to 13^th spot in the all-rounders’ category.

All three are his career-best rankings to date and since he is still in a qualification period*, he can potentially move further up the ladder depending how he performs in the second Test.

There is further good news for England, whose vice-captain Joe Root has broken into the top five for the first time in his career. Root scored 98 and 84, for which he has been rewarded with a jump of three places that, in turn, has put him in fifth position, just one point behind Australia’s Steven Smith.

Alastair Cook’s epic 162 in the second innings has helped him return to the top 20 in 18^th position after his effort earned him six places, Buttler’s contributions of 67 and 14 has given him a lift of nine places and has put him in 56^th spot while Moeen Ali has gained 13 places and is now in 78^th spot following scores of 58 and 43.

For New Zealand in the Reliance ICC Test Ranking , the positive news is that sixth-ranked Kane Williamson has achieved a career-high rating of 860 points (gain of 21 points) and he remains in close pursuit of Smith and Root, while BJ Watling has moved up five places to 35^th and Corey Anderson is in 76^th spot after rising seven places.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, New Zealand’s Trent Boult has achieved a career-best ranking to date. The left-arm fast bowler returned figures of four for 79 and five for 85, which has allowed him to leapfrog Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka and Australia’s Mitchell Johnson into fourth position.

Boult now trails Australia’s Ryan Harris by just one point, while England’s second-ranked James Anderson, who is one wicket short of becoming the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets, is ahead by four points.

Dale Steyn comfortably leads the field and is the only bowler over the 900-point mark.

Meanwhile, England will move up to third and New Zealand will drop to seventh in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings if the home side wins or draws the Headingley Test, which starts on Friday, 29 May. If New Zealand bounces back to draw the series, then New Zealand will slip to fourth and England will retain its fifth spot. 

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 26 May, after the Lord’s Test between England and New Zealand) 

To check the ICC Test Batsmen (top 10) Ranking Click here

To check the ICC Test Bowler (top 10) Ranking Click here

To check the ICC Test All-rounders (top three) Click here