Head closes in on top spot in ICC Test batters’ rankings

Travis Head has saved up his constant rise within the ICC Take a look at batters’ rankings, attending to a profession finest No. 2 on the finish of the Headingley Test in opposition to England, simply 9 factors behind Kane Williamson.

England’s batting stars in that Take a look at, which they gained by three wickets, had been Ben Stokes and Harry Brookand so they moved up 5 locations to 18th and one place to twelfth respectively.

With Williamson not having performed Take a look at cricket since March due to a proper knee damage, Head has an opportunity of attending to the No. 1 spot by the tip of the fourth Ashes Take a look at, to be performed at Previous Trafford from July 19. He has already scored 266 runs in three Ashes Checks up to now, 116 of them coming within the final one.

Whereas Head sparkled, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Root had below-par outings at Headingley, and that meant a drop within the rankings for them. All of them moved down one spot – Smith to fourth, Labuschagne to fifth, and Root to sixth – and made room for Babar Azam to get to No. 3.

The Headingley Take a look at wasn’t a high-scoring one, and that was right down to some particular bowling performances, particularly from Mark Wood. Enjoying his first Take a look at since December 2022, Wooden picked up 5 for 34 and a couple of for 66, profitable the Participant-of-the-Match award within the course of, and rose 9 spots to No. twenty sixth. His colleague Stuart Broad put in an excellent present too, choosing up 5 wickets. That took him up 4 locations to sixth.

For the Australians, Pat Cummins returned 6 for 91 within the first innings, whereas Mitchell Starc had 2 for 59 and 5 for 78. Cummins stayed at No. 2, not far behind the top-ranked R Ashwinwhereas Starc went up three positions to eleventh.