England pacer James Anderson has become the new no.1 ranked bowler in the latest update of ICC Test players’ rankings on February 22, 2023. The update also showed India’s Ravichandran Ashwin moving to the second spot, while Australia captain Pat Cummins slipped to third place.
40-year-old Anderson is aging like fine wine and moved to the no.1 spot thanks to his seven wickets in the first Test against New Zealand at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, which resulted in him ending Cummins’ four-year reign as the top-ranked Test bowler.
For the sixth time in his illustrious international career, which began in 2003, Anderson is currently ranked as the best bowler in Test cricket. The right arm first reached these heights in May 2016. Most recently, in 2018, he rose to the top bowler for a period of five months.
? We have a new World No.1 ?
Pat Cummins is displaced atop the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's Test Bowlers' Rankings ?
Details ?
— ICC (@ICC) February 22, 2023
The England great is currently third on the all-time list for Test wickets with a total of 682, trailing only spinners Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800). He is the oldest bowler to occupy the top spot since Aussie great Clarrie Grimmett did so in 1936 at his sprightly age of 40 years and 207 days.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is at the second spot with a total of 864 rating points and just two rating points behind the England pacer.
Ravindra Jadeja And Axar Patel Gain Big In Test Bowling And All-Rounder’s Rankings
Apart from this, Ravindra Jadeja, who won two consecutive Player of the Match awards in the first two Tests against Australia, moved to the 7th spot in the ICC Test bowling rankings, while holding onto his no.1 spot in all-rounder’s rankings.
His teammate, Axar Patel has also done better to move two places to fifth overall on the latest Test all-rounder rankings, thanks to being the second-highest run-getter in the series with 158 runs.
In Test batting rankings, Tom Blundell (11th) and Devon Conway (17th) both reach new highs for their respective careers, while England’s Ollie Pope (23rd), Harry Brook (31st), and Ben Duckett (38th) also achieve new records.