Australian bowlers have been rewarded for their good bowling performance against New Zealand after the latest ICC Men's Test Player Rankings update.
Indian speedster Jaspit Bumrah is still on top in the list for Test bowlers but both pacer Josh Hazlewood, who has risen one place to fourth, and spinner Nathan Lyon, up two places to sixth, have reduced the gap.
“Hazlewood collected a pair of New Zealand wickets in each innings of the emphatic 172-run victory, while Lyon helped himself to 10 scalps in total as Australia dominated the eagerly-awaited contest at Basin Reserve,” the ICC said in a press release.
“It leaves Australia with four players inside the top 12 of the current rankings for Test bowlers, with skipper Pat Cummins (fifth) and left-armer Mitchell Starc (12th) making up the highly-rated quartet.
“Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips each collected a five-wicket haul during that first Test against Australia, with the former moving up seven places to 18th on the list for Test bowlers and the latter improving 19 spots to 48th.”
In the Test batters rankings, Australia star Cameron Green reached a new career-high rating following his Player of the Match efforts against New Zealand.
“Green hit an unbeaten 174* in the first innings and a decent knock of 34 in the second to help guide the Aussies to victory and jumped up a total of 22 place to reach 23rd on the updated Test batter rankings,” the press release stated.
“Kane Williamson remains well out in front on the Test batter rankings despite scores of just zero and nine in Wellington, while Australia veteran Steve Smith sees his rating drop below 800 points for the first time since 2014 and loses one spot to third on the same list after knocks of 31 and zero against the Kiwis.
“Phillips (up 18 spots to 52nd) and fellow Kiwi Rachin Ravindra (up five places to 76th) made some ground on the rankings for Test batters, while Phillips (up 12 places to equal 11th) also made some movement on the list for Test all-rounders.”