Anderson replaces Jadeja at top of Test bowling rankings

England veteran seamer James Anderson has replaced Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja at the top of the Test cricklet bowling rankings, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Sunday.

Anderson's career-best figures of seven for 42 in an innings and a match haul of nine wickets in the third and final Test at Lord's helped England win by nine wickets to seal a 2-1 series victory over the Windies.

"The 35-year-old overtook Jadeja, who he now leads by 12 points. The third and fourth places are also taken by spinners with India's Ravichandran Ashwin and Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath taking those positions," ICC said in a release.

Anderson, who was the top-ranked bowler in August 2016, has reclaimed the spot to become the oldest bowler to be number-one ranked since Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran in July 2009 and the oldest pace bowler to be at the top since Australia's Glenn McGrath in January 2006.

England's leading wicket-taker Anderson has 506 wickets from 129 Tests. He is sixth in the highest wicket-takers' list in Test cricket.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been another major gainer in the rankings after his player of the match performance.

His knock of 60 in the first innings has lifted him four places to a career-best 20th position among batsmen while his first-innings haul of six for 22 sees him gain two places to reach 21st position among bowlers. These efforts also see him overtake team-mate Moeen Ali to take fourth place among all-rounders.

Other England players to move up include Moeen, who has gained one spot to reach 19th place among bowlers, while Toby Roland-Jones has gained one spot to take a career-best 41st slot.

For the Windies, batsman Shai Hope, who was jointly named player of the series along with Anderson, has continued his upward surge, gaining 11 slots to take a career-best 30th position while opener Kieran Powell has moved up 18 slots to 68th position.

Among their bowlers, pace bowler Kemar Roach has moved up four places to 24th position after a five-wicket haul in the first innings while captain Jason Holder has moved up three places to 33rd position.

Meanwhile, there has been no change in the ICC Test team Rankings following the series with England and the Windies retaining their pre-series 105 and 75 points, respectively.

India continue to lead the chart with 125 points, followed by South Africa, who have 110 points.

--IANS

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