Cummins jumps to No.2 in rankings

05 Feb 2019 cricket.com.au

Australia's pace ace continues his rapid rise, while teammates Mitchell Starc, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head also made gains

Aussie quick Pat Cummins has jumped ahead of England’s Jimmy Anderson and is now just four points away from taking over the mantle of the world’s top-ranked Test bowler.

Cummins has jumped from third to second in the latest ICC rankings, moving above Anderson, after taking four wickets in Australia’s thumping win over Sri Lanka in Canberra.

The right-armer now has 878 rankings points, 18 more than Anderson and just four behind South African superstar Kagiso Rabada.

Pace teammate Mitchell Starc has jumped 10 spots following his 10-wicket haul at Manuka Oval, moving back into the top 20 to be in 15th spot.

Australia’s batsmen also made ground after four of them posted centuries in Canberra; Usman Khawaja has gained three slots to reach 13th after an unbeaten 101 in the second innings while his teammate Travis Head gained a huge 23 slots to reach a career-best 20th position after scores of 161 and 59 not out. Joe Burns is 68th and Kurtis Patterson is in 83rd spot.

West Indies players also made gains after they completed a series win over England, with quicks Jason Holder (sixth), Shannon Gabriel (11th) and Kemar Roach (12th) all in the top 12 bowlers in the world.

It's the best bowling rankings result for the Windies since they had four in the top 12 in mid-1996 – Curtley Ambrose (first), Courtney Walsh (fifth), Ian Bishop (seventh) and Kenny Benjamin (12th).

BATTING

1) Virat Kohli (Ind) – 922 points

2) Kane Williamson (NZ) – 897

3) Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) – 881

4) Steve Smith (Aus) – 857

5) Henry Nicholls (NZ) - 763

6) David Warner (Aus) – 756

7) Aiden Markram (SAF) – 741

8) Joe Root (Eng) – 740

9) Hashim Amla (SAF) - 711

10) Dean Elgar (SAF) – 693

BOWLING

1) Kagiso Rabada (SAF) – 882 points

2) Pat Cummins (Aus) – 878

3) James Anderson (Eng) – 860

4) Vernon Philander (SAF) - 809

5) Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) – 794

6) Jason Holder (WI) – 778

7) Trent Boult (NZ) – 771

8) Mohammad Abbas (Pak) – 770

9) Tim Southee (NZ) – 767

10) Ravi Ashwin (Ind) – 763

ALLROUNDERS

1) Jason Holder (WI) – 448 points

2) Shakib Al Hasan (Ban) – 415

3) Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) – 387

4) Vernon Philander (SA) - 341

5) Ben Stokes (Eng) – 331