Labuschagne leapfrogs Smith on ICC batting rankings

The apprentice is not yet the master, but Marnus Labuschagne has leapfrogged Steve Smith on the official ICC Test batting rankings for the first time.

Labuschagne, who scored 74 in Australia's first innings at the Gabba, has risen to a career-high of second on the International Cricket Council's rankings, pushing Smith down to third.

Smith scored just 12 in the Vodafone Ashes Series opener, dismissed by England speedster Mark Wood, who has been omitted for the day-night Test in Adelaide.

Wood's pace was undoubtedly a major factor in the dismissal of Smith, a major achievement given Smith came into the Ashes averaging more than 100 over the past three series against England.

Labuschagne's meteoric rise from unlikely leg-spinner to No.3 batter, via a concussion substitution at Lord's for Smith, is well known.

The pair have since formed a seemingly inseparable bond as the bedrock of Australia's middle order, admitting to being 'attached at the hip' since Australia's Ashes squad convened in Brisbane in the lead-up to the series.

Labuschagne had entered the series ranked fourth on the ICC's Test batter rankings, behind Joe Root, who remains in top spot, Smith and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson.

Root, who scored a nine-ball duck and a defiant second-innings 89 at the Gabba, remains top with 903 rankings points, ahead of Labuschagne's 894, a new career high.

Smith now has 881 ranking points, narrowly ahead of Williamson's 879. That group of four is well ahead of the remainder of the top 10, which also features David Warner (sixth, on 756 points) and, for the first time, Travis Head.

Head's brilliant 152 off just 148 balls at the Gabba saw him enter Test cricket's top 10 ranked batters with a career-high 717 ranking points.

There was no movement in the top 10 of Test bowler rankings, with Australia captain Pat Cummins remaining top ranked, well ahead of India's Ravichandran Ashwin.

ICC Test Batting Top 10

1 Joe Root (England) 903 points

2 Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) 894

3 Steve Smith (Australia) 881

4 Kane Williamson (New Zealand) 879

5 Rohit Sharma (India) 797

6 David Warner (Australia) 756

7 Virat Kohli (India) 756

8 Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) 754

9 Babar Azam (Pakistan) 750

10 Travis Head (Australia) 717

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), 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: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena