Joe Root has moved to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings following his fine showing in the 2015 Investec Ashes, which England wrapped up 3-1 at Trent Bridge with a Test to play. Root moved from No. 3 to No. 1, exchanging places with Australia’s Steven Smith. AB de Villiers remains at No. 2.
In the bowling rankings, Stuart Broad has jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 following his Man-of-the-Match performance at Trent Bridge in which he destroyed Australia with first-innings figures of 9.3-5-15-8. Broad has leapfrogged Pakistan legspinner Yasir Shah, New Zealand seamer Trent Boult and fellow England pacer James Anderson, slotting just behind South African quick Dale Steyn.
After four Tests in the Ashes, Root tops the batting charts with 443 runs at 73.83. He had scored a century and a fifty in the first match, in Cardiff, which England won by 169 runs. He scored a second century for the series in Trent Bridge, snuffing out any slim hopes Australia had of staying in the game after Broad’s lethal burst. Broad meanwhile leads the series’ wickets list, with 21 scalps at 18.09.
Batting rankings
1 Joe Root, 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Hashim Amla, 5 Kumar Sangakkara, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Younis Khan, 8 Kane Williamson, 9 Chris Rogers, 10 Virat Kohli
Bowling rankings
1 Dale Steyn, 2 Stuart Broad, 3 James Anderson, 4 Trent Boult, 5 Yasir Shah, 6 Vernon Philander, 7 Mitchell Johnson, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Morne Morkel
