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Jason Holder and Ben Stokes make career-high gains in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, following the conclusion of the first England v West Indies Test.
• Jason Holder attains best rating points for a West Indies bowler in two decades even as race with Ben Stokes for top spot among all-rounders promises to gain momentum
Captain Jason Holder has attained the highest points tally by any West Indies bowler in 20 years, reaching a career-best second place in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after playing a crucial role in his side’s four-wicket victory over England in Southampton that helped take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Holder, who picked seven wickets including a haul of six for 42 in the first innings, is now on a career-best 862 points, the best for any West Indies bowler since Courtney Walsh’s tally of 866 in August 2000.
Holder retained 35th position among batsmen after the first Test and has also reached a career-best tally of 485 points at the top of the all-rounders’ list. The competition at the top promises to gain momentum as number-two Ben Stokes has also made huge gains to attain a career-best tally of 431 points, narrowing the lead from 66 to 54 points.
Stokes, leading the side in the absence of Joe Root, has equaled his career-high ninth position among batsmen that he achieved last November, after scores of 43 and 46 at the Ageas Bowl. He is now only one place behind Root. Stokes has also risen three places in the bowlers’ list to 23rd position with six wickets in the match.
Other England players to move up the rankings include left-handed opener Rory Burns, who is in the top 30 for the first time after scores of 30 and 42, while middle-order batsman Zak Crawley is in the top 100 after accumulating 86 runs in the match.
For the visiting side, Shannon Gabriel has gained 46 points to reach a tally of 726 with a player-of-the-match effort of nine wickets, but risen only one place to 18th owing to the wide gap between him and Ravindra Jadeja (722) before the match.
Jermaine Blackwood’s superb second-innings knock of 95 has helped him advance 14 slots to 58th position among batsmen while Shane Dowrich is at a career-best 37th position after scores of 61 and 20.
The win for the West Indies earned them 40 points in the ICC World Test Championship after a 2-0 loss to India in their only previous series of the championship.
England remain on 146 points and fourth place in the list led by India with 360 points. Australia are second with 296 points while New Zealand are third at 180.
Each series of the WTC is worth 120 points, distributed evenly over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 points for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series. More on the WTC is available here.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 13 July, after the first England-West Indies Test):
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Steve Smith | Aus | 911 | 62.84 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Virat Kohli | India | 886 | 53.62 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 3 | ( – ) | M Labuschagne Aus | 827*! | 63.43 | 827 v NZ at Sydney 2020 | |
| 4 | ( – ) | K Williamson | NZ | 812 | 50.99 | 915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Babar Azam | Pak | 800! | 45.12 | 800 v Ban at Rawalpindi 2020 |
| 6 | ( – ) | David Warner | Aus | 793 | 48.94 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 7 | ( – ) | C Pujara | India | 766 | 48.66 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 8 | ( – ) | Joe Root | Eng | 756 | 48.40 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 9= | ( – ) | Ajinkya Rahane | India | 726 | 42.88 | 825 v NZ at Indore 2016 |
| (+1) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 726 | 36.68 | 745 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2020 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 29 | (+4) | Rory Burns | Eng | 596* | 33.90 | 597 v SA at Centurion 2019 |
| 35= | ( – ) | Jason Holder | WI | 563 | 32.49 | 581 v Eng at Barbados 2019 |
| 37 | (+7) | S Dowrich | WI | 562! | 30.50 | 562 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 45 | (+3) | Roston Chase | WI | 539 | 31.76 | 626 v Pak at Dominica 2017 |
| 48 | (+4) | K Brathwaite | WI | 520 | 33.31 | 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017 |
| 58= | (+14) | J Blackwood | WI | 487 | 31.25 | 575 v Eng at Barbados 2015 |
| 66= | (+2) | Darren Bravo | WI | 457 | 37.69 | 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 904 | 21.82 | 914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019 |
| 2 | (+1) | Jason Holder | WI | 862! | 25.54 | 862 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 3 | (-1) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 843 | 26.60 | 859 v Aus at Melbourne 2019 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Tim Southee | NZ | 812! | 29.00 | 812 v India at Christchurch 2020 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 802 | 22.95 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 6 | ( – ) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 797 | 26.97 | 807 v NZ at Perth 2019 |
| 7 | ( – ) | Jasprit Bumrah | India | 779* | 20.33 | 834 v WI at Jamaica 2019 |
| 8 | (+1) | Trent Boult | NZ | 770 | 27.65 | 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015 |
| 9 | (+1) | J Hazlewood | Aus | 769 | 26.20 | 864 v India at Bengaluru 2017 |
| 10 | (-2) | J Anderson | Eng | 767 | 26.87 | 903 v India at Lord’s 2018 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 18 | (+1) | S Gabriel | WI | 726 | 29.66 | 758 v Ban at Jamaica 2018 |
| 23 | (+3) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 595 | 31.97 | 606 v WI at St Lucia 2019 |
| 37 | (+1) | Jofra Archer | Eng | 421* | 28.12 | 465 v Aus at The Oval 2019 |
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | WI | 485! | 485 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 431! | 431 v WI at Southampton 2020 |
| 3 | ( – ) | R Jadeja | India | 397 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 4 | ( – ) | M Starc | Aus | 298 | 346 v India at Pune 2017 |
| 5 | ( – ) | R Ashwin | India | 281 | 492 v Eng at Mohali 2016 |
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating
For more information on player rankings, please click here.
