Labuschagne on top of the world after Ashes century

Marnus Labuschagne's golden run has continued, moving to the top of the official ICC Test batting rankings for the first time.

Labuschagne, who scored his first Ashes century in the first innings in Adelaide, knocked England captain Joe Root from top spot after he had held the crown since August this year.

The Australia No. 3 was adjudged player of the match in the second Ashes Test held at Adelaide Oval for his 103 and 51 in the second innings that helped the hosts record a comprehensive 275-run win and a 2-0 series lead over England.

The 27-year-old is the ninth player from Australia to have crossed the 900-point mark with the bat, joining the likes of Sir Don Bradman, Ricky Ponting, Mathew Hayden, Steve Smith and Michael Clarke to achieve the feat.

Root, who scored 62 and 24 in Adelaide, has been pushed down to second spot in the ICC's Test batter rankings, while Smith held on to third with his 93 in the first innings.

Labuschagne entered the Ashes series ranked fourth behind Root, Smith and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson before moving past Smith and Williamson following the first Test in Brisbane.

Root dropped six points to 897 points with Smith closing in on the Englishman on 884. Labuschagne gained 18 points to move to 912 and open up a 15-point gap at the top.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc is back in the world’s top 10 Test bowlers for the first time since January this year.

The left-armer stepped up in Adelaide to lead the Aussie attack beautifully in the absence of skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, taking 4-37 in the first innings and 2-43 in the second to move up to ninth in the Test bowler rankings.

Cummins (904 points) held onto top spot despite missing the second Test as a COIVD close contact, while Hazlewood, who suffered a side strain in Brisbane, dropped one spot to fifth.

Root has also made a surprise first appearance in the top 10 allrounder rankings after 111 Tests, with his 1-72 and 2-27 after spinner Jack Leach was dropped from the side enough to move him up to 10th with 225 points.

ICC Test Batting Top 10

1 Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) 912 points

2 Joe Root (England) 897

3 Steve Smith (Australia) 884

4 Kane Williamson (New Zealand) 879

5 Rohit Sharma (India) 797

6 David Warner (Australia) 775

7 Virat Kohli (India) 756

8 Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) 754

9 Babar Azam (Pakistan) 750

10 Travis Head (Australia) 728

ICC Test Bowling Top 10

1 Pat Cummins (Australia) 904 points

2 Ravichandran Ashwin (India) 883

3 Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan) 822

4 Tim Southee (New Zealand) 814

5 Josh Hazlewood (Australia) 810

6 Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) 798

7 Neil Wagner (New Zealand) 794

8 James Anderson (England) 791

9 Mitchell Starc (Australia) 768

10 Kyle Jamieson (New Zealand) 764

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: Australia won by nine wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 275 runs

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena