Jason Holder becomes No 1 Test all-rounder

Dubai: Jason Holder, the Windies captain, has rose to No.1 in the MRF Tyres ICC Test rankings for all-rounders after his stunning performance in Barbados helped his side to a 381-run win against England.

Holder scored his maiden double-century in front of his home crowd in Barbados, and also picked two wickets in the match, earning him a jump of two spots to the top of the all-rounders’ chart.

Among the others to make notable gains in the latest update to the rankings, following the Tests in Barbados and Brisbane, were the Australian trio of Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, along with the Windies’ Kemar Roach, Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich.

However, the week was all about Holder, who was named in the ICC Test team of the year 2018 for his all-round skills. He has, for the most part, been known as a bowling all-rounder, but he massively enhanced his batting reputation by stroking a marvelous unbeaten 202 against England. Under his leadership, the Windies also bowled England out for 77 and 246.

He also picked the crucial wickets of Joe Root and Keaton Jennings, and all in all, his all-round rating jumped to a career-best 440 points. That meant he leapfrogged Shakib Al Hasan and Ravindra Jadeja to the top spot. He also rose sharply in the batting rankings, by a remarkable 25 spots, and now sits comfortably at No.33.

Meanwhile, Dowrich, who supported him with a sedate 116 not out, also made a 14-spot jump to No.47. Shimron Hetmyer’s scores of 81 and 31 helped him rise 11 places to No.40.

After Australia’s three-day win against Sri Lanka in the Brisbane pink-ball Test, there were big gains for their young batsmen in the batting rankings. Marnus Labuschagne made the biggest leap, moving 21 places to No.84, while Travis Head rose 17 places to No.43.

Among the bowlers, Pat Cummins pipped Vernon Philander to No.3 on the MRF Tyres ICC Test rankings for bowlers after claiming ten wickets in the match, including a career-best 6/23.

Jhye Richardson, who was handed his first baggy green in that match, also made an impressive entry at No.80 after claiming match figures 5/45.

For the Windies, Kemar Roach, who took 5/17 in England’s first innings, climbed five places to No.20 while Chase shot up 14 places to No.14 after his excellent 8/60 in the second innings.

It wasn’t all bad for players of the losing teams, though. Most notably, England’s Rory Burns climbed 14 places in the batsmen’s rankings to No.99 after making 84.

Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella climbed to No.37 on the back of his 64, while Suranga Lakmal rose to No.31 on both the bowlers’ (two-place rise) and the all-rounders’ (three-place rise) charts after his spell of 5/75 and a knock of 24. (UNI)