Australia replace India at top of Test rankings

Coach Langer pleased with progress but insists that Kohli's side remain the benchmark

Steve Smith celebrates after Australia retained the Ashes in England last summer. Getty 

Australia have replaced India at the top of the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.

The annual update of the table, which removes points accrued in 2016-17 and gives greater weighting to more recent results, puts Justin Langer's team back on top spot for the first time in four years.

Australia's elevation over India, who slip to third behind New Zealand, comes despite their last away series win coming over the Black Caps in February 2016. England lie fourth in the rankings.

Last summer saw Langer's side retain the Ashes in England after a superlative series from batsman Steve Smith, who was back in the team after completing a 12-month ban for ball-tampering.

Australia also top the Twenty20 table ahead of hosting the format's World Cup, still scheduled for October but under threat from coronavirus, while England's victory in last year's 50-over World Cup ensures they remain at the summit in one-day cricket. Eoin Morgan's men have climbed to second in T20s.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket.com.au.

"We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field.

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come. Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back [to Australia]."

Langer, though, is adamant Virat Kohli’s India, which lost 2-0 in a recent series against New Zealand, remain the team to beat in Test cricket.

“I said in my first conference as coach we will know we are a great team if we can beat India in India,” Langer said.

“That is certainly a great goal for us. We know they are so tough to beat, so only then will we really know we can claim the No 1 spot.

“The last time we played India here they beat us for the first time in [a series in] Australia, so we will be determined to beat them when they come back.”

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Player ratings from 2019 Ashes series

Ashes series player ratings. England: Rory Burns – 7 (out of 10). Hinted at the fact he might be one-half of the solution to England’s opening problems in Sri Lanka last winter, and he confirmed the point with 390 runs in the series. AFP

2. Jason Roy – 1 (out of 10). England’s experiment with their white-ball hero was an unmitigated failure. A top score of 31 and an average of 13.75 across eight innings. Reuters

3. Joe Root – 6. Signed off the series with two fine catches and two wickets. But his batting remains unfulfilled, especially when set against the yields of Steve Smith. AFP

4. Joe Denly – 7. Was messed around as England tried to find a home for Roy, yet Denly still put together an admirable body of work with three second-innings half-centuries. AFP

5. Ben Stokes – 9. England’s man of the summer, the New Zealander of the Year (perhaps), and cricket’s comic-book hero. Two centuries, two half-centuries, and unforgettable Headingley. AFP

6. Jonny Bairstow – 5. Just one 50 in the series, but it was not a complete failure. He helped spark the comeback at Headingley, and his glovework was top-notch in the Oval win. AFP

7. Jos Buttler – 5. He was finding his range just as the series was coming to a close. Feels a little like a luxury player in a batting line up that needs some prosaic accumulators. AFP

8. Chris Woakes – 4. The mainstay of the attack at the start of the summer, by the end he was flagging badly. Deprived a wicket at The Oval because of the first no-ball in his Test career, which summed up the mood. AFP

9. Moeen Ali – 2. Have we seen the last of Moeen in international cricket? Surely he has too much class for that, but he is now on the outside looking in on both Test and ODI teams. Reuters

10. Sam Curran – 6. His up-and-at-them display at The Oval, where he took three wickets, added to the sense England might have fared better if they had taken a chance on him earlier in the series. AFP

11. Jofra Archer – 8. Man of the match at The Oval, and might have been close to it at Headingley, had Stokes not been so ridiculous. The find of the summer for England – and world cricket. AFP

12. Jack Leach – 7. Happily, Leach showed with four wickets to win The Oval Test that he has a role to play with the ball for England. He is the ultimate trier. AFP

13. Stuart Broad – 8. Made a joke of the pre-series doubts over whether he still fitted into England’s best bowling line up. A class act throughout, he ended England’s leading wicket-taker with 23. AFP

14. Craig Overton – 6. Might have been an iffy selection for the Old Trafford match, but he again showed he is made of strong – if not spectacular – stuff. Should be part of England’s winter tours. AFP

15. James Anderson – Unmarked. Regarded as a key component in England’s bid to regain the Ashes, he limped out after just four overs as his calf injury had not healed. Will he be back? PA Photo

AUSTRALIA: 1. David Warner – 1 (out of 10). Enough runs in the bank so as not to have to worry about his place. Anyone else would have been jettisoned for a series average of 9.50 in 10 innings. AFP

2. Cameron Bancroft – 2. He cannot live off just being a freakishly good short-leg fieldsman. Had his chance at the start, when the Sandpaper Three were all restored to the line up, but failed to take it. Reuters

3. Marcus Harris – 1. Could scarcely have gone much worse. Just 58 runs in six innings at 9.66, two vital catches dropped, and stitches to repair split webbing in his hand as well. AFP

4. Usman Khawaja – 4. Has the unfortunate body language of someone who appears not to care – even if he might be trying really hard. Lost his place after a lean run with the bat. Getty Images

5. Marnus Labuschagne – 9. A breakthrough series, after becoming Test cricket’s first concussion substitute. He made four half-centuries in a row thereafter, each full of character. AFP

6. Steve Smith – 9.5. Only misses out on a perfect 10 on account of the fact his super-human batting did not, in the end, lead to a series win. He could have done little more, though. A colossus. AFP

7. Travis Head – 5. A return of 191 runs at an average of 27.28 saw him lose his place for the final match. He needs to do better, but in fairness he was on the wrong end of some stunning deliveries. AFP

8. Matthew Wade – 7. “The human foghorn,” as he was labelled in the English press, was either feast or famine. Two pugnacious tons at the start and end, with little of note in between. AFP

9. Mitchell Marsh – 6. His first five-wicket Test haul was received joyfully by his teammates at The Oval. It went to show he is a popular member of the side, even if he doesn’t fit into the line up often. AFP

10. Tim Paine – 5. Will always be able to say he was the first Australian captain to take home the urn in 18 years of touring England. But his contribution was mixed, and his use of DRS dire. AFP

11. James Pattinson – 6. Only risked in two matches, as Australia seemed cautious about his workload. He bowled better than his return of five wickets at 33.40 suggests. Reuters

12. Pat Cummins – 9. Somehow went without a five-wicket haul in the series, despite being its best bowler. He bowled more overs than any other seamer, yet barely flagged at all. afp

13. Peter Siddle – 5. His 44 in the first innings at Edgbaston was a seminal moment in the series. But, like Leach for England, he was indifferent in his main discipline, with the ball. afp

14. Mitchell Starc – 5. Curious that a player of Starc’s talent would be restricted to just the one appearance. He had his moments at Old Trafford, without threatening the sort of dominance he brings to bear in ODI cricket . Reuters

15. Nathan Lyon – 7. He will always remember this series for two reasons. One, he went past Dennis Lillee in the wicket-taking charts. Two, that botched run out at Headingley. Reuters

16. Josh Hazlewood – 8. Some pundits are claiming Australia have never had a better new-ball pairing than Cummins and Hazlewood. That is a big claim, but they were outstanding in this series. AFP