Travis Head jumps to second spot on the ICC Test batting rankings; Ravichandran Ashwin maintains top spot in the bowler rankings
The third Test of the ongoing Ashes series saw significant changes to the ICC Test player rankings after England defeated Australia by three wickets to stay in the hunt for the little urn.
Destructive middle-order batter Travis Head moved up by two sports to a career-high second place behind only New Zealand superstar Kane Williamson in the batting rankings. The southpaw continued his sensational form since his comeback to the Test side in the 2021 Ashes series, scoring 39 and 77 in the third Test at Headingley.
The 29-year-old's exploits at Headingley saw him jump ahead of the duo of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, who both had a disappointing game. Former England skipper Joe Root also fell out of the top five into sixth place after a quiet Test on his home ground, falling to Pat Cummins in both innings for 19 and 21.
However, middle-order batter Harry Brook and skipper Ben Stokes improved to 12th and 18th places on the batting rankings following their match-winning knocks of 80 and 75, respectively.
Travis Head rockets up to a career-best second spot on the Test batting rankings! #Ashes https://t.co/ASBPARy2ep
As far as the bowlers were concerned, veteran pacer Stuart Broad jumped up four spots to No. 6, while Player of the Match Mark Wood broke into the top 30, moving up by nine places to 26th.
The Australia bowlers didn't find much joy, with only Mitchell Starc moving up three places to 11th while skipper Pat Cummins remained in second place.
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retains his position as the No.1 ranked bowler and will seek to separate himself further in the two-Test series against the West Indies, starting July 12.
Sri Lankan players move up the ICC ODI rankings
The final stages of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe saw a few members from the Sri Lankan side make positive strides in the ODI rankings. The island nation went through the campaign unscathed, winning all eight games, including the final against the Netherlands, to qualify for the main event in October.
Opener Pathum Nissanka moved up nine places to joint 29th after finishing as the second leading run-scorer in the tournament with 417 runs in eight innings at an average of almost 70.
Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana also rocketed by 13 spots to 19th after picking up 21 scalps in the Qualifiers to finish as the second-highest wicket-taker behind teammate Wanindu Hasaranga.
There were also subtle movements in the rankings from the recently concluded Afghanistan-Bangladesh ODI series that the Afghans won 2-1. Centurions Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz made significant strides to crack the top 20 and top 50 in the ODI batting rankings, respectively.
Champion spinner Rashid Khan moved up three spots to No. 4 while SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi moved from 91st to 33rd on the latest bowler rankings.
The ODI rankings saw no changes in the top spot, with Pakistan star Babar Azam and Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood maintaining their lead over Rassie Van der Dussen and Mohammed Siraj.