Australia is officially the best Test side in the world again after re-taking the number one ranking in the wake of a 4-0 Ashes thrashing of England.
New Captain Pat Cummins remains the number one Test bowler in the world and man of the series Travis Head jumped to six on the batter rankings, giving Australia three of the world’s top six.
Head joined number one Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, who slipped from third to fourth after a lean Ashes.
It‘s the first time Australia have claimed the No.1 ranking since May 2020 and they take over from New Zealand who won the first-ever world Test Championship last year.
After thrashing England in Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart – with England holding on for a draw in the fourth Test in Sydney – Australia leapfrogged India and the Kiwis to claim top spot.
Head had a coming-of-age series after being picked to play at number five scoring 357 runs at 59.5 in four Tests, after sitting out the SCG draw with Covid, to top the run-scoring charts for the five-Test series.
Australia’s ascension back to the top of the Test rankings comes after seizing a maiden T20 World Cup trophy last November which coach Justin Langer, who is under pressure to keep his job, said were the team’s biggest goals
“Before the World Cup and before the Ashes, we’ve never ever been better prepared. So it’s not a coincidence I don’t think that we’ve had the success that we’ve had,” he said this week.
“Whatever happens from now on, we can all be incredibly proud of this little period. We had two missions: To win the World Cup and to win the Ashes.
“To do that in such a short period is a monumental effort and we’re all really satisfied with that, we’re all really happy about that, we’re all really, really proud of that.”
The Ashes victory was the start of a massive Test campaign for Australia in 2022 which includes matches in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India before home clashes next summer against the West Indies and South Africa.
