Joe Root isn’t the No. 1 Test batter in the world anymore. The man he said was “far and away the best player in the world at the minute”, Harry Brook, has gone to the top of the pile following his 123 and 55 in the second Test in New Zealand, which came on the back of a 171 in the first Test, which had taken him to the second spot.
It’s a slender lead at the top for Brook, though, just one point, with Root doing his cause no harm with a 106 in the second innings of that second Test, which England won by 323 runs to go 2-0 up in the three-Test series. Indeed, how the two of them go in the third Test, starting December 14 in Hamilton, could well determine if Brook stays No. 1 or Root takes back his crown almost immediately.
Root had held the top spot since he went past Kane Williamson – currently No. 3 – in July this year. He has been the top batter in Test cricket nine times over his career.
Brook was named Player of the Match in Wellington and Root was quick to shower praise on his younger colleague. “Brooky is by far and away the best player in the world at the minute,” he had said. “He can absorb pressure, he can apply it. He can whack you over your head for six. He can scoop you over his head for six. He can smack spin. He can smack seam.”
Just 25, Brook has scored 2280 runs from 38 innings across 23 Tests, and currently averages 61.62. Those numbers include eight centuries, including a mammoth 317 against Pakistan in Multan in October 2024.
Travis Head and Temba Bavuma move up
It has been a busy time for Test cricket on the whole, with Australia hosting India in a five-match series – of which two have been played so far – and South Africa beating Sri Lanka 2-0 at home earlier this week.
Bavuma, in fact, was named Player of the Series for his tally of 327 runs.
Marnus Labuschagne, who signalled a bit of a return to form in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, has also moved up following his 64 in the first innings, going up three spots to get to 13th.
Competition for Jasprit Bumrah
Hazlewood missed the second Test, but Cummins’ seven wickets in the Test took him up from fifth to fourth past R Ashwin, while Rabada held on to his second spot – he has 856 points to Bumrah’s 890 – after picking up three wickets in Gqeberha.
Matt Henry was the other quick bowler to move up within the top ten, his four wickets in Wellington moving him up from tenth to ninth place.
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