Chance for Anderson to move back to top Test spot

LONDON: James Anderson will be looking to work his way back to the top of the ICC Test Bowling Rankings as England take on Ireland in their one-off Test at Lord’s from Wednesday (tomorrow).

Anderson, who was overtaken by South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada in November last year and subsequently by the present No 1 Pat Cummins of Australia, is ranked second and has a chance to bridge the 16-point gap in the Lord’s Test before featuring in a potential direct contest with Cummins in the subsequent Ashes series.

Anderson’s fellow England fast bowler Stuart Broad (19th) will be looking to retain a top-20 place, which he has maintained since 2009, while Moeen Ali (25th, 621 points) is only 12 points behind his best ever rating points achieved in August 2017.

Captain Joe Root is the highest-ranked batsman on either side in sixth place while Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are in 26th and 27th places, respectively.

For Ireland, Kevin O’Brien’s scores of 40 and 118 on debut against Pakistan and a subsequent half-century against Afghanistan have lifted him to 68th place while Gary Wilson is 140th in the batting table. Stuart Thompson is their highest-ranked bowler in 64th position with Tim Murtagh just two places behind.