England's Root on top of the world

Joe Root has replaced Steven Smith as the world's number one ranked batsman in Test cricket after playing a key role in England regaining the Ashes.

The 24-year-old Yorkshireman struck a superb 130, his second hundred of the series, in England's innings and 78-run win in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

Victory, completed inside three days, gave England an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Root has scored 443 runs in the series, with two hundreds and two half-centuries, at an average of 71.79.

The latest edition of the International Cricket Council's rankings published Sunday saw Root on top of the batting standings, with Australia's Smith, out for six and five in Nottingham, dropping down to third place.

South Africa's AB de Villiers was second in the standings.

Meanwhile the equivalent bowling rankings saw England's Stuart Broad climb to a career-high second place on the back of a stunning first-innings return of eight for 15 on his Nottinghamshire ground that was behind Australia's collapse to 60 all out.

The 29-year-old pacemen's ninth wicket of the match, taken in the second innings, saw him edge past fast bowling great Fred Trueman into fourth place in England's list of all-time leading Test wicket-takers.

Broad has taken 308 wickets in 83 Tests to date and is 17 behind former England fast bowler Bob Willis.

A combination of Broad's form and the absence at Trent Bridge of the injured James Anderson has seen the Lancashire paceman drop to third in the ICC standings, still headed by South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Australia fast bowler Michell Johnson moved down two places to seventh.

Victory at Trent Bridge also produced a statistical landmark for Alastair Cook as he became only the third English captain, after W.G. Grace and Mike Brearley, to twice win the Ashes on home soil.

Leading ICC Test player rankings as of August 9 after the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge (rank, change in ranking, player, team, ranking points, average, highest ranking points):

Batting
01 (+2) Joe Root ENG 917 56.58 917 v AUS at Trent Bridge 2015
02 (-) AB de Villiers RSA 890 52.09 935 v AUS at Port Elizabeth 2014
03 (-2) Steven Smith AUS 884 54.66 936 v ENG at Lord's 2015
04 (-) Hashim Amla RSA 881 52.48 907 v PAK at Abu Dhabi 2013
05 (-) Kumar Sangakkara SRI 874 58.04 938 v ENG at Kandy 2007
06 (-) Angelo Mathews SRI 860 51.67 877 v NZL at Christchurch 2014
07 (-) Younus Khan PAK 829 54.07 880 v SRI at Lahore 2009
08 (-) Kane Williamson NZL 813 45.70 860 v ENG at Lord's 2015
09 (-) Chris Rogers AUS 763 42.86 793 v ENG at Lord's 2015
10 (+1) Virat Kohli IND 755 45.73 784 v NZL at Wellington 2014

Bowling
01 (-) Dale Steyn RSA 905 22.48 909 v WIS at Centurion 2014
02 (+3) Stuart Broad ENG 852 28.97 852 v AUS at Trent Bridge 2015
03 (-1) James Anderson ENG 815 29.38 847 v WIS at Barbados 2015
04 (-1) Trent Boult NZL 814 27.12 825 v ENG at Lord's 2015
05 (-1) Yasir Shah PAK 810 24.81 810 v SRI at Pallekele 2015
06 (+1) Vernon Philander RSA 770 22.13 912 v IND at Johannesburg 2013
07 (-2) Mitchell Johnson AUS 765 28.03 849 v PAK at Dubai 2014
08 (-) Rangana Herath SRI 752 30.17 851 v PAK at Colombo (SSC) 2014
09 (-) Tim Southee NZL 713 31.63 799 v WIS at Jamaica 2014
10 (-) Morne Morkel RSA 705 29.66 776 v AUS at Cape Town 2011
 

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