Bell, Pietersen and Dravid enjoy spectacular rise

England’s Ian Bell has moved into the top five of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in his career following his double-hundred in the fourth and final match of the series against India at the Oval.

As England claimed the title of number-one Test side in the world with a 4-0 series victory, several of its players have made their own moves up the players’ ladder with Bell the most notable. The Warwickshire batsman scored 235 and in the process gains four positions to move level with team-mate Alistair Cook in third.

Kevin Pietersen’s 175 in the same match is enough for him to return to the top 10 as he moves up five places to eighth spot. England can now boast six bowlers in the top 20 and four batsmen in the top 10.

As he has done so well of late, India’s Rahul Dravid fought hard against the otherwise rampant England bowlers and while his 146 not out in the first innings was not enough to save the match for his team, it did earn him four places on the log and a position at number 10.

The news is not so positive for most of his team-mates, however, with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni all losing ground in a list that has South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis at the top and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara second.

And the knock-on effect of India’s failures with the bat has been that England’s bowlers have reaped the reward. Three of the top five bowlers represent England as Graeme Swann gains two places to third position with James Anderson in second and Stuart Broad in fifth.

Tim Bresnan moves up five places to 11th overall as South Africa’s Dale Steyn leads the way.

There is no change in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders as Kallis still sets the standard and England’s Stuart Broad lies second.

As England claimed the title of number-one Test side in the world with a 4-0 series victory, several of its players have made their own moves up the players’ ladder with Bell being the most notable.



The Warwickshire batsman scored 235 and in the process has gained four positions to move level with team-mate Alistair Cook at third place.

Kevin Pietersen’s 175 in the same match is enough for him to return to the top 10 as he moves up five places to eighth spot. England can now boast six bowlers in the top 20 and four batsmen in the top 10.

As he has done so well of late, Dravid fought hard against the otherwise rampant England bowlers and while his 146 not out in the first innings was not enough to save the match for his team, it did move him four places up on the log for a position at number 10. Dravid scored three hundreds in the series.

The news is not so positive for most of his team-mates with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni all losing ground in a list that has South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis at the top and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara second.

And the knock-on effect of India’s failure with the bat has been England’s bowlers reaping the rewards. Graeme Swann gains two places to third position with James Anderson in second and Stuart Broad in fifth.

Tim Bresnan moves up five places to 11th overall as South Africa’s Dale Steyn leads the way.

There is no change in all-rounders’ rankings as Kallis still sets the standard and England’s Stuart Broad lies second.

Rankings:

Batsmen:

Rank Player Team

1 Jacques Kallis SA

2 Kumar Sangakkara SL

3 Ian Bell Eng

3 Alastair Cook Eng

5 Sachin Tendulkar Ind

6 Jonathan Trott Eng

7 S Chanderpaul WI

8 Kevin Pietersen Eng

9 Thilan Samaraweera SL

10 Rahul Dravid Ind



Bowlers:

1 Dale Steyn SA

2 James Anderson Eng

3 Graeme Swann Eng

4 Morne Morkel SA

5 Stuart Broad Eng

6 Mitchell Johnson Aus

7 Zaheer Khan Ind

8 Shakib Al Hasan Ban

9 Daniel Vettori NZ

10 Chris Tremlett Eng



All-rounders:

1 Jacques Kallis SA

2 Stuart Broad Eng

3 Daniel Vettori NZ

4 Shakib Al Hasan Ban

5 Shane Watson Aus