Smith jumps to No 2 in Test rankings

DUBAI: Steven Smith has leapfrogged Kane Williamson to second place in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen after amassing 378 runs in three innings at an average of 126 in the ongoing Ashes series.

Pat Cummins, meanwhile, consolidated his place at the top of the bowlers rankings to such an extent that only four men have ever accumulated more rating points than the 914 he has now. (Sydney Barnes 932, George Lohmann 931, Imran Khan 922, Muttiah Muralitharan 920)

Much of the focus though remains on Smith who is in a race against time to be fit for the third Ashes Test at Headingley after sustaining a ‘mild concussion’ after taking a Jofra Archer bouncer to the neck. Despite being out of international cricket for a year, he reduced the gap to the No 1 spot - currently occupied by Virat Kohli - to just nine points.

England captain Joe Root dropped to ninth place from sixth. Ben Stokes, who struck 115 off 165 balls in England’s second innings at Lord’s, jumped from 32nd to 26th among batsmen.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne broke into the top ten after his fourth-innings 122 handed Sri Lanka 60 points in their first World Test Championship match, against New Zealand in Galle. Karunaratne moved from 12th to eighth while New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel jumped 14 places to 61st among bowlers after claiming a match haul of six wickets in the Galle Test.