DUBAI: England’s outstanding performance in the second Test against the West Indies led to significant gains for several of their key players in the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings.
Ben Stokes’ side secured a decisive 241-run victory at Trent Bridge. Among the standout players, veteran batsman Joe Root scored his 32nd Test century. This achievement moved him closer to the top ranking of Test batsmen currently held by New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. Root has gained 12 rating points and is now just seven points behind Williamson. Another strong performance in the upcoming third Test in Birmingham could see Root reclaim the number one spot.
Harry Brook also made notable progress, climbing four places to reach a career-best third in the batsmen’s rankings. His impressive second innings century in Nottingham saw him surpass Babar Azam, Daryl Mitchell, Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma.
Other England players have also improved. Ben Duckett moved up six places to 16th and Ollie Pope jumped eight places to 21st after solid performances in the second Test. For the West Indies, Kraigg Brathwaite moved up two places to 40th, Joshua Da Silva climbed seven places to 61st and Kavem Hodge made a significant jump of 21 places to 75th.
In the Test bowlers’ rankings, Chris Woakes made a remarkable move to jump four places to re-enter the top 20 for the first time since September 2021 thanks to his six-wicket haul against the West Indies. England’s young spinner Shoaib Bashir improved 18 places to 53rd after his five-wicket haul in the second innings, while West Indies quick Jayden Seales gained 10 places to reach 34th after taking six wickets in the Nottingham Test.
There have been notable movements in the ODI rankings for Namibia in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 in Dundee. Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz moved up four places to sixth among ODI bowlers, reaching a career-high rating after his three-wicket haul against Scotland. Captain Gerhard Erasmus moved up one spot to fifth among ODI all-rounders after scoring 63 runs and two wickets in the same match.
