Shaheen Shah Afridi has moved back up to third in the ICC Test bowling rankings, with Ben Stokes making big gains in the batting and all-rounder rankings following England’s win over South Africa in the second Test at Old Trafford.
James Anderson also made gains, re-entering the top five in the bowling rankings.
Stokes was the star, making his first century as Test captain and taking four wickets in the game to pick up the Player of the Match award. After a relatively lean time with the bat – Stokes had managed just one century since England’s 2020 summer – the return to form was a welcome one, and saw the all-rounder re-enter the top 20 in the ICC Test batting rankings.
His 668 rating points has seen him move up to 18th, the highest position he has achieved since taking a break from cricket during the 2021 English summer. In the all-rounder rankings, meanwhile, Stokes has jumped from fifth to second, gaining 46 points. Stokes was ranked No.1 in early 2021, and attained a career-high ratings peak of 497 points in July 2020. He now sits 24 points behind Ravindra Jadeja, the current No.1 ranked all-rounder in the ICC Test rankings.
Shaheen’s move up the rankings is down to Kagiso Rabada’s poor Test match, with the South Africa quick taking 2-110 and going at almost five an over. He slipped from third to sixth in the ICC Test bowling rankings, with Shaheen and Jasprit Bumrah both benefittng despite not playing. Anderson, who claimed 6-62 in the game, gained 20 points to move himself two points ahead of Rabada. The Proteas seamer has had a topsy-turvy few weeks near the summit, starting the series in fifth before rising to third and now dropping to sixth. Anderson’s rating tally is his highest since England’s tour of India in early 2021.
While Root remains the No.1 ranked Test batter, three single-figure scores have seen him drop from 923 to 890 rating points, only five ahead of Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, with Pakistan’s Babar Azam a further six points adrift.
The final England-South Africa Test begins on Thursday, September 8 at The Oval.
