ICC Batsmen Ranking ahead of England vs South Africa Test Series

July 4 (CRICKETNMORE) - Joe Root in his debut series as England captain against South Africa, will start as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third place in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsman.

Root is 32 points behind second ranked Kane Williamson, but a strong performance in the Lord’s Test can potentially move him ahead of his New Zealand opposite number. In contrast, his South Africa counterpart, Dean Elgar, who will captain in place of Faf du Plessis, will begin in 19th position and can move up the order depending how he performs at Lord’s.

Apart from the two captains, both the sides boast two batsmen each inside the top 20. For England, Jonny Bairstow is ranked 11th and Alistair Cook is 13th, while Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla of South Africa are ranked sixth and ninth respectively. Outside the top 20 and aiming to improve their rankings are Moeen Ali (24th), Ben Stokes (36th), JP Duminy (38th) and Temba Bavuma (45th).

Top 20: ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 July, before the start of England v South Africa Test series)

Latest Test Team Rankings

 

Top 20: ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 July, before the start of England v South Africa Test series)

Rank    Player              Team      Points      Avge        Highest Rating

   1         Steve Smith         Aus        941      

   2         Kane Williamson  NZ          880        

   3         Joe Root              Eng        848        

   4         C. Pujara              Ind         846       

   5         Virat Kohli            Ind         818       

   6         Quinton de Kock  SA          802

   7         Azhar Ali              Pak        769     

   8         David Warner       Aus        759      

   9         Hashim Amla       SA          748      

  10        Lokesh Rahul       Ind         739    

  11        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        731        

  12        Ajinkya Rahane    Ind         726        

  13        Alastair Cook       Eng        720        

  14        Usman Khawaja   Aus        718        

  15        Ross Taylor          NZ          705        

  16        Faf du Plessis      SA          690        

  17        Angelo Mathews  SL          688        

  18        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        676     

  19        Dean Elgar           SA          669        

  20        Tamim Iqbal         Ban        654        

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ICC Media Release