Broad breaks into top three of ICC Test rankings

Dubai, May 22 (IANS) A maiden 10-wicket haul by England fast bowler Stuart Broad against the West Indies has given him a career-best ranking in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings released Tuesday.

England beat the West Indies by five wickets at lord's Monday, to go 1-0 up in the three-Test series.

Broad recorded figures of seven for 72 and four for 93 which gave him a jump of five places and put him in third place alongside his new ball partner James Anderson, who bagged three wickets in the match.

For his match haul of 11-165, Broad earned 34 ratings points which not only gave him a share of third place with Anderson but also put the two fast bowlers 52 ratings points behind second-placed Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan.

With off-spinner Graeme Swann sitting in fifth position after slipping one place following his match figures of three for 111, England now have three bowlers inside the top-five while Tim Bresnan is 25th, dropping seven places after claiming just one wicket of Adrian Barath in the Test.

The other bowler to move up the chart is the West Indies' Kemar Roach, who has gained one place and is now in 16th position after match figures of six for 168 to claim his career-best ranking.

The bowlers' list is headed by South Africa's Dale Steyn.

In the batsmen rankings, the West Indies' number-one ranked Shivnarine Chanderpaul has extended his advantage over second-placed AB de Villiers to 57 ratings points.

Chanderpaul had entered the Test with a lead over de Villiers of just six ratings points and over third-ranked Jacques Kallis of eight ratings points.

However, after scores of 87 not out and 91, the 37-year-old Guyana batsman has not only consolidated his number-one raking, he is now 22 ratings points away from breaking the 900-point mark yet again, which in ranking terms is the benchmark for any batsman. Chanderpaul last achieved a career-best rating of 901 after scoring 126 not out against New Zealand in December 2008 in Napier.

Other batsmen to head in the right direction after the lord's Test include Ian Bell in 17th (up by two places), Andrew Strauss in 27th (up by one place), Marlon Samuels in 55th (up by eight places), Adrian Barath in 67th (up by 14 places) and Darren Sammy in 68th (up by five places).