- Harry Brook smashed his eighth Test hundred against New Zealand last week
- He has now replaced Joe Root at the top of the ICC’s Test batting rankings
- His incredible innings set England on their way for a dominant win in Wellington
Harry Brook’s match-changing hundred in Wellington has seen him become Test cricket’s number one ranked batsman for the first time.
Brook, 25, has toppled England and Yorkshire team-mate Joe Root at the summit, moving one point ahead after rescuing his team from a first innings situation of 43 for four with an audacious 123 from 115 deliveries, and then adding 55 second time around in the 323-run win.
The 33-year-old Root scored his 36th Test hundred in that second innings, but his overall tally of 897 points is one behind Brook.
Between them this year, they have produced 10 Test hundreds, plus a world-record stand of 454 versus Pakistan in Multan.
When Brook was asked about pinching the No 1 ranking off his fellow Yorkshireman ahead of Friday’s third Test in Hamilton, he said: ‘I’m trying to catch him, but he’s too good, isn’t he?
‘He’s got another hundred this week. He’s one of the best to have ever played the game. It’s mega to play with him, and he’s awesome to watch.’
Harry Brook is now the No 1 ranked Test batter in the world after hitting a century last week
He has moved above England team-mate Joe Root by a single point in the world rankings
Root hailed Brook as the best player in the world after England’s second Test in New Zealand
His comments were clearly overlooking the impact of his own extraordinary numbers, though. Brook’s average of 61.62 is the third highest in history of players to have batted in at least 20 innings, behind the great Sir Don Bradman and another Australian Adam Voges.
‘If you ask me, Brooky is by far and away the best player in the world at the minute,’ Root said.
‘To be able to construct an innings like that, off the back of another exceptional hundred the week before…
‘He has such an all-round game. He can absorb pressure, he can apply it. He can whack you over your head for six, he can scoop you over his head for six. He can smack spin, he can smack seam. He’s so hard to bowl to.’
The Yorkshire duo are likely to occupy the top two spots for some time given that there is now an 85-point gap to the rest of the field, led by New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.
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