James Anderson, the 40-year-old bowling maestro from England, has earned the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings. He won the title after 1466 days (about 4 years) and ended Pat Cummins’ incredible run as the top-ranked test bowler. Jimmy is aging, but he is aging like fine wine. The updates were released after the England VS New Zealand game in Mount Maunganui, where England won the game by 267 runs. Here is an in-depth look at the same:
James Anderson Ranked World Number 1 in ICC Test Bowler Rankings:
James Anderson is now ranked number 1 in the ICC Test Bowlers ranking by the ICC. This sets a record, as Jimmy is one of the most aged players to bag this position. And not just aged, he is experienced and smart. He is aging like fine wine and is getting better with time. His fitness is an example for the younger generation. He made his debut back in 2003. He held the position earlier in 2016 but since then it was a clear domination by other pacers.
Anderson has been ranked number 1 a total of 6 times in his entire career. Most recently he held the position in 2018 before losing the same to Kagiso Rabada from South Africa. Anderson has bagged 866 points and is ranked number 1. His lead is very slender as he is just 2 points ahead of second-ranked R Ashwin. Ashwin will be looking to change that in the remaining two games against Australia.
Anderson Stats:
| Matches (Tests) | 178 |
| Wickets | 682 |
| Strike Rate | 55.8 |
| Average | 24.6 |
| Best | 7/42 |
| 5-wicket hauls | 32 |
James Anderson Skill and Hard Work:
James Anderson has been putting a lot of effort into his fitness. He is currently at the number 3 spot in the list of all-time highest wicket-takers. He is behind number 1 ranked Muttiah Muralidharan with 800 wickets and Shane Warne with 708 wickets. James will be looking to get to number 1 as soon as possible but only time will tell if he can have that required longevity. His 7-wicket haul in the test match against New Zealand has led to him getting ranked number 1.
Here is a list of all the bowlers to be ranked number 1 at above 40 years:
Bert Ironmonger – 50 years 10 months, February 1933
Clarrie Grimmett – 44 years 2 months, February 1936
Tich Freeman – 41 years 2 months, July 1929
Sydney Barnes – 40 years 9 months, February 1914
James Anderson – 40 years 6 months, February 2023
MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings Update:
| POS | PLAYER | TEAM | RATING | CAREER BEST RATING |
| 1 | James Anderson | ENG | 866 | 903 v India, 13/08/2018 |
| 2 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 864 | 904 v England, 12/12/2016 |
| 3 | Pat Cummins | AUS | 858 | 914 v England, 18/08/2019 |
| 4 | Ollie Robinson | ENG | 820 | 820 v New Zealand, 20/02/2023 |
| 5 | Jasprit Bumrah | IND | 795 | 835 v West Indies, 02/09/2019 |
| 6 | Shaheen Afridi | PAK | 787 | 836 v Sri Lanka, 20/07/2022 |
| 7 | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 776 | 902 v Australia, 12/03/2018 |
| 8 | Kyle Jamieson | NZ | 765 | 836 v England, 06/06/2022 |
| 9 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 763 | 899 v Australia, 20/03/2017 |
| 10 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 735 | 806 v New Zealand, 16/12/2019 |
| 11 | Stuart Broad | ENG | 727 | 880 v South Africa, 18/01/2016 |
| 12 | Josh Hazlewood | AUS | 718 | 863 v India, 07/03/2017 |
| 13 | Trent Boult | NZ | 717 | 825 v England, 25/05/2015 |
| 14 | Neil Wagner | NZ | 715 | 859 v Australia, 30/12/2020 |
| 15 | Kemar Roach | WI | 711 | 780 v India, 02/09/2019 |
| 16 | Nathan Lyon | AUS | 711 | 774 v England, 06/12/2017 |
| 17 | Tim Southee | NZ | 691 | 839 v India, 29/11/2021 |
| 18 | Mohammad Shami | IND | 685 | 790 v Bangladesh, 16/11/2019 |
| 19 | Anrich Nortje | SA | 663 | 663 v Australia, 08/01/2023 |
| 20 | Jason Holder | WI | 616 | 862 v England, 12/07/2020 |
| 21 | Hasan Ali | PAK | 607 | 760 v Bangladesh, 08/12/2021 |
| 22 | Duanne Olivier | SA | 596 | 692 v Sri Lanka, 23/02/2019 |
| 23 | Marco Jansen | SA | 593 | 636 v Australia, 21/12/2022 |
| 24 | Taijul Islam | BAN | 593 | 666 v West Indies, 02/12/2018 |
| 25 | Mehedi Hasan | BAN | 592 | 696 v West Indies, 02/12/2018 |
| 26 | Keshav Maharaj | SA | 591 | 695 v Zimbabwe, 30/12/2017 |
| 27 | Akshar Patel | IND | 589 | 650 v Bangladesh, 18/12/2022 |
| 28 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 578 | 705 v Australia, 30/08/2017 |
| 29 | Jack Leach | ENG | 570 | 604 v New Zealand, 27/06/2022 |
| 30 | Ramesh Mendis | SL | 560 | 560 v Pakistan, 28/07/2022 |
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