The veteran Australian batsman, Steve Smith, and fast bowler Pat Cummins has managed to retain their numero uno position in the ICC Test Player Rankings after the Ashes, which concluded with a 135-run win for England on Sunday as the five-match Test series ended in a 2-2 draw.
Smith’s scores of 80 and 23 have helped him remain 34 points ahead of the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli with 937 rating points, an incredible effort since he started the series in the fourth position with 857 points before his surge that came courtesy of as many as 774 runs in four Tests. Cummins too is having a decent lead over the other bowlers as he enjoys a lead of 57 points over second-placed South African fast bowler, Kagiso Rabada after finishing as the highest wicket-taker of the series with 29 scalps.
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Other players from Australia to witness significant growths are Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh. Wade’s fourth Test century has lifted him 32 places to 78th, his highest since being ranked 52nd in March 2013. Marsh’s maiden five-wicket haul has helped him gain 20 places to reach 54th positions, his best since March 2017.
David Warner has come down seven places after the Test to finish in 24th position among batsmen. He has witnessed a downfall of 19 positions during the five matches with a tally of 95 runs in 10 innings, starting the series in the fifth position. Josh Hazlewood has dropped from 12th to eighth place after briefly making the top-10 among bowlers.
For England, the young fast bowler Jofra Archer has moved into the top 40 for the first time in his career after grabbing six wickets in the first-innings while left-arm seamer Sam Curran has leapfrogged six positions to reach 65th position with three wickets.
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Jos Buttler’s scores of 70 and 47 have lifted him back into the world’s top 30 for the first time since January 2019 while Joe Denly’s career-best score of 94 has taken him to a career-highest 57th place. Rory Burns has also moved up five positions to 56th place.
