New ICC test rankings released after South Africa win WTC final

LONDON: Following the conclusion of the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle, which saw South Africa crowned as champions after defeating Australia, a new set of test rankings were released on Wednesday by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Team Rankings

South Africa have moved up one place in the test team rankings to second after winning their first piece of ICC silverware since the 1998 Knockout Trophy. They now have a rating of 114, while England, who the Proteas sent down to third, have a rating of 113. Australia remain at the top with a rating of 123.

Test Batting Rankings

The man who made South Africa’s victory possible, Aiden Markram, rose seven places to the 11th spot, and now has a rating of 723. Markram scored an incredible 136 runs off 207 deliveries, making up for his poor perforamcen in the Proteas’ first innings when he was sent off for a duck.

Usman Khawaja, who was also sent off for a duck in his first innings, and then on six in Australia’s second, dropped six places. He now sits at 15th in the test batting rankings with a rating of 703. Travis Head struggled in the final as well, scoring 11 and 9 in Australia’s first and second innings, respectively. He dropped four places to his new ranking of 12th and has a rating of 716.

Marnus Labuschagne dropped three places to 19th, while Alex Carey rose one place to take the 18th spot. Beau Webster, who put up the highest score in Australia’s first innings with 72 runs, rose 13 places to 70th place. Steven Smith remains near the top of the rankings at fifth. He scored 66 runs in Australia’s first innings, but fared worse in the second where he only scored 13.

Above smith is Yashasvi Jaiswal in fourth, Kane Williamson in third, Harry Brook in second, and Joe Root in first.

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Test Bowling Rankings

Pakistan’s Noman Ali rose two spots to fourth in the bowling rankings as Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon both fell a place to their new rankings of fifth and sixth. Hazlewood took two wickets in the WTC final, one in each inning. Lyon failed to take a single wicket during the match.

Mitchell Starc rose one place to tenth after taking a total of five wickets in the final, two in the first innings and three in the second. Pat Cummins remains at third despite taking six wickets in the first innings and another in the second.

Similarly, Kagiso Rabada remains at second despite taking an incredible nine wickets, five in the first innings and four in the second, on the biggest stage in the longest format. Keshav Maharaj dropped two places to 19th after only taking one wicket in the final.

Lungi Ngidi, who impressed by taking three wickets in Australia’s second innings, rose seven places to 37th, where he is tied with Naseem Shah.

Jasprit Bumrah remains in the top spot with a rating of 908.

Test All-Rounder Rankings

Mitchell Starc is also ranked 10th in the all-rounder rankings, rising three places after an impressive unbeaten 58 in Australia’s second innings. Rabada, along with New Zealand’s Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips, all rose one rank each as Lyon dropped three places to 17th.

Simiarly, Cameorn Green dropped three places to 21st, propelling Noman Ali, Kyle Jamieson, and Maharaj up one place each to 20th, 19th, and 18th, respectively. Hazlewood rose five places to 32nd, while Travis Head dropped four places to 31st. Mitchell Marsh also dropped three places, and is now ranked 36th.

Pat Cummins and Marco Jansen remain at fourth and third, respectively. Above them is Mehidy Hasan Miraz at second and Ravindra Jadeja at first.

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