Anderson Becomes No.1 Ranked Test Bowler

Dubai: England's James Anderson has topped the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers for the first time in his career after bowling his side to a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test in Chester-le-Street on Monday.

Anderson took three for 36 and five for 58, and, in doing so, has leapfrogged team-mate Stuart Broad and India's Ravichandran Ashwin into the coveted number-one position. He now leads Broad by 15 points and Ashwin by 13 points.

The 33-year-old Lancastrian has collected 79 points and has gained four spots in the rankings.

Anderson is the fourth England bowler to top the bowlers' table since Ian Botham first achieved this feat in 1980. Steve Harmison stormed up the charts in 2004, while Broad vaulted to the number-one position earlier this year following the Johannesburg Test against South Africa.

Broad, who took five wickets in the Test, has slipped behind Ashwin to third place after conceding three points.

In the batting table, England's Moeen Ali has achieved a career-best ranking.

The left-handed batsman scored 155 not out, his career-best score in 25 Tests, which helped England to declare its first innings at 498 for nine. For this achievement, Ali has earned 82 points that has lifted him 12 places to a career-high 35th position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

Opener Alex Hales after scoring 83 and 11, has moved up nine places to 70th.

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal, who scored 126 in the second innings, has moved up one place to 19th, while Nick Compton is now in 67th spot after rising one place.

Alastair Cook, who became the first England batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs while scoring 47 not out in the second innings, has retained his 15th position.

Australia captain Steve Smith is the number-one ranked Test batsman, followed by Joe Root of England and New Zealand's Kane Williamson.