ICC Rankings: Joe Root back on top among Men’s Test batters

ICC Rankings: Joe Root back on top among Men’s Test batters. (Source – Getty Images)

Former England captain Joe Root begins his 10th reign at the top of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings after the third and final match of their ICC World Test Championship series against New Zealand, edging compatriot Harry Brook, who spent just one week as number one.

Root’s scores of 32 and 54 lifted him to 895 rating points in the latest weekly update that takes into consideration performances in matches completed till Tuesday, 19 points above Brook, who was dismissed for just zero and one in Hamilton as New Zealand pulled one back to win by 423 runs.

Kane Williamson’s scores of 44 and 156 helped him close the gap on the leading two while Tom Latham (up six places to 31st), Will Young (up 13 places to a career-best 36th), Tom Blundell (up three places to 37th) and Mitchell Santner (up 17 places to 76th) were other batters to prosper in the rankings from the home side.

Player of the Match Santner, who contributed 125 runs with the bat in his two innings, also attained a career-best 39th position with seven wickets in the Test.

New Zealand new-ball bowler Matt Henry’s dominance over Zak Crawley has been a highlight as he dismissed the England opener in all six innings of the series, and his latest six-wicket match haul has lifted him two places to a career-best seventh position

His team-mate Will O’Rourke continues the impressive start to his Test career and is currently in joint-30th place while England’s Gus Atkinson finished his first year in Test cricket at number 14.

Tim Southee retires from Test cricket ranked 26th among bowlers, reaching a career-best ranking of third that he first attained in June 2021. He has also been a top 10 bowler in the other two formats – achieving a career-high ninth position in ODIs and sixth in T20Is.

In the T20I Rankings, West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein’s haul of two for 13 against Bangladesh in Kingston has lifted him three places to number one. He replaces England’s Adil Rashid, who had been number one for a year – having taken over the top spot on 14 December 2023.

South Africa batter Reeza Hendricks is back into the top 10 after notching a century against Pakistan in Centurion while Rovman Powell of the West Indies, Muhammad Waseem of the United Arab Emirates and Saim Ayub of Pakistan are among others to move up the batting rankings.