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Lahore: Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and Ben Stokes, who all made their names at previous ICC U19 Cricket World Cups, have made impressive gains in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, which were released on Wednesday morning following the conclusion of the Centurion Test which South Africa won by 280 runs.
Rabada, who took 14 wickets in South Africa’s successful campaign at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014, recorded figures of seven for 112 and six for 32 to vault 32 places to 30th in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers.
Rabada had started the series in 122nd position and has gained 92 places after earning 447 points following his 22 wickets in the series. As Rabada is still in the qualification period for bowlers, he is expected to move further up the ladder, depending on how he performs later this year. A bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets, and the 20-year-old from Johannesburg has so far taken 24 wickets in six Tests.
De Kock, who captained South Africa at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 and was its best batsman with 284 runs as his side finished third, scored his maiden unbeaten Test century in the final Test against England. As a result, the left-handed wicketkeeper/batsman has broken into the top 50 for the first time, occupying the 48th position after rising 27 places.
Amla, who scored 191 runs in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2002 where South Africa finished runner-up, scored 109 and 96 in the Centurion Test. For this performance, Amla has been rewarded with a jump of four places, which has put him in fourth place. He now trails Kane Williamson and Joe Root, both joint-second, by 29 points, while number-one ranked Steve Smith is 39 points ahead.
Stokes, who scored 166 runs and took seven wickets at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 where England finished eighth, has achieved career-high rankings in the bowlers’ and all-rounders’ categories. He has moved up three places to 27th in the bowling table, while he has leapfrogged Vernon Philander and Ravindra Jadeja into fourth place in the all-rounders’ list.
The bowling table is headed by England’s Stuart Broad, while Ravichandran Ashwin is the top-ranked all-rounder.
The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016 started in Chittagong on Wednesday with defending champion South Africa taking on host Bangladesh at the ZACS and England taking on Fiji at the MA Aziz Stadium. The biennial 16-nation tournament features nine Test-playing nations and seven Associate and Affiliate Members – Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal, Ireland and Scotland. Teams have been divided into four groups with the top two in each advancing to the Super League quarter-finals and the other two qualifying for the Plate Championships.
Other players to head in the right direction following the Centurion Test are Morne Morkel of South Africa, who has gained two places and is now 10th in the bowling table, and England’s Moeen Ali, who has earned five places and is now in 45th spot in the batting charts.
Outside the top 50, South Africa opener Stephen Cook, who scored 115 and 25, has entered in 55th position, while Temba Bavuma has climbed 18 places and is now in 56th spot following scores of 35 and 78 not out.
Meanwhile, as the MRF Tyres ICC Test Championship Table is only updated at the end of a series, India has been confirmed as the number-one ranked side. India was guaranteed this position after South Africa had trailed 0-2 after three Tests in the four-Test series.
India had previously held the number-one Test position from December 2009 to August 2011.
Australia and South Africa are on equal points at 109 but when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point, then Australia is ranked second as it has 109.4 points as compared to South Africa’s 108.9.
With only 11 points separating number-one ranked India from sixth-ranked New Zealand, there is potential for further changes before the 1 April annual cut-off date.
In the final series before focus shifts to the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, Australia will travel to New Zealand next month for two Tests and if it wins the series, then it will finish as the top-ranked Test side. If Steve Smith’s side achieves this, then it will not only reclaim the prestigious MRF Tyres ICC Test Championship Mace, it will also win a cash award of $1million.
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the ICC Test Championship, please click here. The Test rankings table is updated after the end of each series.
MRF TYRES ICC TEST CHAMPIONSHIP (as on 27 January, after the conclusion of the Centurion Test)
RANK TEAM POINTS
1 India 110
2 Australia 109
3 South Africa 109
4 Pakistan 106
5 England 102
6 New Zealand 99
7 Sri Lanka 89
8 West Indies 76
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Zimbabwe 05
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF TYRES ICC TEST PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 27 January, after the conclusion of the Centurion Test)
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Steve Smith Aus 899 57.90 936 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
2= (+1) K. Williamson NZ 889 49.93 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
( – ) Joe Root Eng 889 54.93 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 (+4) Hashim Amla SA 860 51.45 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5 ( – ) David Warner Aus 854 51.34 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( – ) Younus Khan Pak 826 53.94 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
7 (-3) AB de Villiers SA 818 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
8 (-1) Angelo Mathews SL 808 50.18 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
9 ( – ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 764 48.89 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
10= ( – ) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 753! 44.97 753 v SA at Delhi 2015
( – ) Adam Voges Aus 753*! 85.66 753 v WI at Sydney 2016
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
15 ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 723 46.56 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
27 (-2) Dean Elgar SA 602* 36.73 626 v Eng at Johannesburg 2016
34 (-5) Jonny Bairstow Eng 562 32.54 589 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
35 ( – ) Ben Stokes Eng 560 33.73 594 v Aus at Lord’s 2015
45 (+5) Moeen Ali Eng 492* 27.91 517 v Aus at The Oval 2015
46 (-1) JP Duminy SA 479 32.34 586 v SL at Galle 2014
48 (+27) Quinton de Kock SA 472*! 45.22 472 v Eng at Centurion 2016
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 872 28.66 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
2 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 871! 25.39 871 v SA at Delhi 2015
3 (+1) Yasir Shah Pak 846*! 24.17 846 v Eng at Sharjah 2015
4 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 841 22.53 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
5 ( – ) James Anderson Eng 805 29.18 847 v WI at Barbados 2015
6 ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 789*! 23.76 789 v SA at Delhi 2015
7 ( – ) Trent Boult NZ 787 28.28 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
8 ( – ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 741* 24.54 792 v WI at Hobart 2015
9 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 731 31.47 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
10 (+2) Morne Morkel SA 724 29.33 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Eco. HS Rating
26 (-2) Moeen Ali Eng 496* 39.76 557 v SA at Durban 2015
27 (+3) Ben Stokes Eng 493*! 38.07 493 v SA at Centurion 2016
30 (+32) Kagiso Rabada SA 469*! 24.70 469 v Eng at Centurion 2016
ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 406 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
2 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
3 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 310 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
4 (+2) Ben Stokes Eng 276 /*! 276 v SA at Centurion 2016
5 (-1) Vernon Philander SA 275*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
