Kane Williamson’s impressive Test summer has been recognised by the ICC with the Black Caps skipper reaching the highest batting rating for a New Zealand Test player.
Williamson, who scored an impressive 238 in the second Test win over Pakistan in Christchurch last week, has reached 919 rating points in the ICC’s system, bettering his previous record of 915 he set in 2018.
To put the record in perspective, ICC Hall of Famer Sir Richard Hadlee is the only other New Zealander to pass the 900-point mark when he reached a career-high of 909 in bowling in 1985.
It’s the cherry on top of a special summer for Williamson, in which he has also led the Black Caps to the No.1 Test rank for the first time while also becoming a dad when he and wife Sarah Raheem welcomed their baby daughter last month.
Williamson remains on top of the ICC’s Test batting rankings with his new best, leading Australia’s Steve Smith [900] and Indian superstar Virat Kohli [870], who also recently became a father.
Henry Nicholls rose three spots to ninth after he hit 157 in the second Test as well.
The other big mover for the Black Caps was second Test star Kyle Jamieson who moved seven places to a career-best 21st in the bowling ranks following his 11-wicket haul.
Jamieson also sits fifth among Test all-rounders on 293 points despite only having six Tests to his name. New Zealand-born Englishman Ben Stokes leads the all-rounders on 446 points while injured Black Cap Colin de Grandhomme is ninth.
In the bowling section Neil Wagner remains third after missing the second Test due to his two broken toes with teammate Tim Southee right behind him at fourth. Trent Boult sits a bit further back in 15th.
ICC Rankings
Batting
1. Kane Williamson [NZL] – 919
2. Steve Smith [AUS] – 900
3. Virat Kohli [IND] – 870
4. Marnus Labuschagne [AUS] – 866
5. Babar Azam [PAK] – 781
6. Ben Stokes [ENG] – 760
7. Ajinkya Rahane [IND] – 756
8. Cheteshwar Pujara [IND] – 753
9. Henry Nicholls [NZL] – 747
10. David Warner [AUS] – 745
Bowling
1. Pat Cummins [AUS] – 908
2. Stuart Broad [ENG] – 845
3. Neil Wagner [NZL] – 825
4. Tim Southee [NZL] – 811
5. Josh Hazlewood [AUS] – 805
6. Kagiso Rabada [RSA] – 786
7. James Anderson [ENG] – 781
8. Mitchell Starc [AUS] – 774
9. Ravichandran Ashwin [IND] – 768
10. Jasprit Bumrah [IND] – 765
All-Rounder
1. Ben Stokes [ENG] – 446
2. Ravindra Jadeja [IND] – 428
3. Jason Holder [WI] – 423
4. Shakib Al Hasan [BAN] – 366
5. Kyle Jamieson [NZL] – 293
6. Mitchell Starc [AUS] – 291
7. Ravichandran Ashwin [IND] – 287
8. Chris Woakes [ENG] – 269
9. Colin de Grandhomme [NZL] – 258
10. Pat Cummins [AUS] - 250
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