South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander has achieved the coveted number-one ranking on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a stellar performance against India in the Johannesburg Test, which ended in a thrilling draw on Sunday.
Philander had entered the Test trailing team-mate Dale Steyn by four ratings points. While Philander recorded figures of four for 61 and three for 68, Steyn managed just one wicket. The contrasting performances resulted in Philander gaining 13 ratings points and Steyn conceding 13 ratings points.
This swing means Philander now leads Steyn by 22 ratings points and the 28-year-old from Bellville will now start the Durban Test as the number-one ranked bowler in the world for the first time in his career.
Reacting to the news that he is the new number-one ranked Test bowler, Philander said: “I am happy with my position as the No.1 ranked Test bowler. It is an honour to have been bowling alongside a champion like Dale.
“It’s been a great couple of years for our squad, and I have been fortunate enough to contribute to our success on the field. What has been the most pleasing though for us has been the all-round contribution from everyone in the squad that has been the main reason for our success over the last few years.
“Needless to say, it is always easier to be at the top of your game and successful when you are part of a winning team. Dale has been a tireless workhorse for us and continues to consistently put in quality performances for our team, it is no wonder that he was at the top of the bowling ranking for so long.”
Philander has dislodged Steyn, who had been at the top of table since July 2009 when he went past Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran. Overall, Steyn spent 186 matches at the number-one position, the second-most ever after Muralidaran.
Philander is now the seventh South Africa bowler to claim the number-one rank after Aubrey Faulkner (1914-1921), Hugh Tayfield (1955-1958), Peter Pollock (1969), Allan Donald (1998-1999), Shaun Pollock (1999-2003) and Steyn (2008-2013).
Overall Philander is the 74th bowler to head the Test bowling ranking.
Philander has also become the third South Africa bowler after Pollock and Steyn to break the barrier of 900 ratings points, considered a landmark for top bowlers.
Philander’s total of 912 ratings points is the joint-sixth best ever, with England’s Tony Lock and West Indies paceman Curtly Ambrose, and the best-ever by a South Africa bowler.
Johannesburg Test centurions on the move
Meanwhile, two of the four centurions in the Johannesburg Test, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, have moved in the right direction on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
Kohli, who stroked 119 and 96, has jumped nine places to a career-best 11th position, du Plessis’ 134 in the second innings has helped him rocket 16 places to a best-ever 28th position.
Of the other two century-makers in the Test, number-one ranked AB de Villiers and India’s Cheteshwar Pujara have consolidated their number-one and number-seven spots, respectively. De Villiers now leads second-ranked Hashim Amla by 25 ratings points while Pujara has earned 37 ratings points to lead eighth-ranked Misbah-ul-Haq by 55 ratings points and has reduced the gap with sixth-ranked Kumar Sangakkara to 28 ratings points.
New Zealand gains points on the Test rankings table
New Zealand’s eight-wicket win over West Indies in the third and final Test at Hamilton has helped it register a 2-0 series win and, thereby, gain seven ratings points to retain seventh position with 82 ratings points on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings Table.
West Indies, on the other hand, has dropped behind Sri Lanka in seventh position.
The biggest movers among the players were Shivnarine Chanderpaul in third (up by two) and Ross Taylor at a career-best fourth (up by two) on the batting table. New Zealand’s Tim Southee at 13th (up by four) made the biggest move on the bowling table.
Swann ends Test career in 15th spot
England off-spinner Graeme Swann has finished his Test career at 15th in the bowlers’ table. Swann’s highest ranking with the ball was when he achieved the number-two position in March 2010. He reached a peak of 858 points later that year.
Swann also spent 41 matches and 111 days in 2011 as the top ranked ODI bowler, first reaching top spot on 3 July 2011. He has ended his ODI career in 24th rank on the bowling table.
He also spent 35 matches and 338 days as the top ranked T20I bowler, first reaching top spot on 30 December 2010. Swann has ended his T20I career in 17th position.
Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings table (as on 23 December, after the New Zealand v West Indies series)
Rank (+/-) Team Rating (+/-)
1 South Africa 131
2 India 119
3 England 116
4 Pakistan 102
5 Australia 101
6 (+1) Sri Lanka 88
7 (-1) West Indies 87 (-8)
8 New Zealand 82 (+7)
9 Zimbabwe 34
10 Bangladesh 18
Reliance ICC Test Rankings (as of 23 December, after the third Test between New Zealand and West Indies, and the first Test between South Africa and India)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 906 51.54 909 v Pak at Dubai 2013
2 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 881 51.76 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 (+2) S.Chanderpaul WI 876 51.93 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4 (+2) Ross Taylor NZ 871! 47.51 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
5 (-2) Michael Clarke Aus 868 52.20 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
6 (-2) K Sangakkara SL 866 56.98 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
7 ( – ) C Pujara Ind 838*! 67.63 838 v SA at Johannesburg 2013
8 ( – ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 783! 46.03 783 v SA at Dubai 2013
9 ( – ) Graeme Smith SA 775 49.43 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
10 ( – ) Younus Khan Pak 769 51.17 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
11 (+9) Virat Kohli Ind 748*! 45.31 748 v SA at Johannesburg 2013
12 (-1) David Warner Aus 741! 43.20 741 v Eng at Perth 2013
13 (-1) Ian Bell Eng 731 46.36 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
14 ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 700 47.07 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
15 (-2) Jacques Kallis SA 681 55.12 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
16 (-1) Kevin Pietersen Eng 675 47.64 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
17 (-1) Asad Shafiq Pak 660* 39.11 680 v SA at Cape Town 2013
18 (-1) Jonathan Trott Eng 654 46.45 856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
19 ( – ) M Jayawardena SL 639 49.56 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
20 (-2) Darren Bravo WI 636 44.68 709 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
21 (+5) K Williamson NZ 621! 35.88 621 v WI at Hamilton 2013
23 (-2) MS Dhoni Ind 616 39.11 662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
28 (+16) Faf du Plessis SA 593*! 61.58 593 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
29 (-7) M Samuels WI 590 35.51 672 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
34 (-3) B McCullum NZ 575 35.21 673 v Pak at Hamilton 2011
36 (+4) Alviro Petersen SA 571 37.65 655 v NZ at Cape Town 2013
44 (-1) Murali Vijay Ind 530* 37.19 533 v WI at Mumbai 2013
45 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 516* 39.40 518 v WI at Mumbai 2013
46= ( – ) BJ Watling NZ 502* 35.40 509 v WI at Wellington 2013
(+8) Rohit Sharma Ind 502*! 102.66 502 v SA at Johannesburg 2013
50 (+10) Denesh Ramdin WI 472! 27.25 472 v NZ at Hamilton 2013
56 (-5) Kieran Powell WI 444* 28.21 468 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
60 (+8) H Rutherford NZ 416* 34.87 454 v Eng at Wellington 2013
61 (-6) Kirk Edwards WI 411* 35.69 524 v Aus at Bridgetown 2012
64 (-5) JP Duminy SA 406* 33.07 466 v Aus at Brisbane 2012
67 ( – ) Darren Sammy WI 391 21.68 452 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
70 (-5) Peter Fulton NZ 384* 29.18 413 v Eng at Auckland 2013
75 (+17) V Philander SA 363*! 23.45 363 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
85 (-9) N Deonarine WI 338* 25.89 401 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
91 (-17) S Dhawan Ind 321* 54.20 420 v Aus at Mohali 2013
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 (+1) V Philander SA 912! 17.56 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
2 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 890 23.07 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
3 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 831 29.52 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
4 ( – ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 824 26.54 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
5 (+1) Ryan Harris Aus 796* 22.45 801 v Eng at Brisbane 2013
6 (+1) Peter Siddle Aus 786 28.68 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
7 (-2) R Ashwin Ind 767 28.50 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
8 ( – ) Pragyan Ojha Ind 748 30.26 773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
9 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 745 30.25 783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
10 ( – ) Trent Boult NZ 729*! 26.54 729 v WI at Hamilton 2013
11 (+1) Morne Morkel SA 704 29.94 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
12 (-1) Abdur Rehman Pak 703* 27.55 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
13 (+4) Tim Southee NZ 699! 31.44 699 v WI at Hamilton 2013
14 (-1) J Anderson Eng 677 30.69 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
15= (-1) Graeme Swann Eng 663 29.96 858 v Pak at Lord’s 2010
(-1) M Johnson Aus 663 29.37 825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
17 (-1) Kemar Roach WI 649* 27.71 712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
18 ( – ) Ben Hilfenhaus Aus 639* 28.50 757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
19 (+1) S Al Hasan Ban 614 32.60 680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
20 (-1) S Shillingford WI 613* 32.32 652 v NZ at Dunedin 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
22 ( – ) Zaheer Khan Ind 587 32.56 752 v SA at Durban 2010
25 (+5) Ishant Sharma Ind 522 37.85 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
29 (+5) Jacques Kallis SA 501 32.53 742 v Eng at Headingley 2003
30 (+2) Darren Sammy WI 499* 35.79 568 v Aus at Bridgetown 2012
42 (+4) M Shami Ind 415*! 21.06 415 v SA at Johannesburg 2013
44 (+1) Neil Wagner NZ 397*! 37.94 397 v WI at Hamilton 2013
46 (+19) C Anderson NZ 377*! 19.36 377 v WI at Hamilton 2013
49 (-5) N Deonarine WI 343* 29.70 391 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
55 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 307* 43.08 312 v Pak at Dubai 2013
66 (+15) Sunil Narine WI 253* 40.52 282 v NZ at Kingston 2012
68 (-2) K Williamson NZ 244* 39.90 291 v Eng at Headingley 2013
69 (-6) V Permaul WI 242* 37.66 282 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
74 (+1) JP Duminy SA 218* 40.10 302 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
76 (-3) M Samuels WI 211* 52.14 250 v Zim at Dominica 2013
88 (-3) Ish Sodhi NZ 162* 51.45 177 v WI at Dunedin 2013
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 396*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
2 ( – ) S Al Hasan Ban 362 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3 ( – ) Jacques Kallis SA 341 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
4 ( – ) V Philander SA 331*/ ! 331 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 279 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
* 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
