James Anderson: Top of the world rankings
James Anderson: Top of the world rankings

James Anderson regains top spot in the ICC's Test bowling rankings


England vice-captain James Anderson has regained top spot in the International Cricket Council's Test bowling rankings.

The 35-year-old pace bowler, who has taken 540 Test wickets, climbed from second to first place, moving above South Africa's Kagiso Rabada.

Rabada falls in the rankings follow South Africa's Test series defeat to Sri Lanka.

The ICC's rankings, published by the governing body on Tuesday, are based on a points system which uses a series of calculations to rate players on a scale of 0 to 1000.

Anderson has 892 points, 10 ahead of Rabada, while India's Ravindra Jadeja sits third with 866. The second highest Englishman is 12th-placed Stuart Broad on 742 points.

England captain Joe Root (855) is third in the batting rankings, which is topped by banned Australian Steve Smith (929), with Indian Virat Kohli second (903).

Alastair Cook is 13th on 686 points, while England team-mate Jonny Bairstow is three places and 16 points further back.

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