Australia stars on the rise following latest rankings update
Australia's dominant victory over the West Indies in Adelaide has seen a host of their best player make giant strides on the updated Test rankings.
Australia left-hander Travis Head has been rewarded for his good recent form by making a big jump up the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men's Test Batting Rankings that helps him close in on top spot.
Head scored his seventh Test century when compiling a classy 119 against the West Indies in the ICC World Test Championship clash in Adelaide last week and was duly rewarded for his Player of the Match heroics on the updated rankings for Test batters.
The 30-year-old jumps seven places from outside the top 10 and into equal fifth place courtesy of the knock, with Kiwi veteran Kane Williamson (first), former England captain Joe Root (second) and Australian teammates Steve Smith (third) and Marnus Labuschagne (fourth) the only players ahead of him.
Head was Player of the Match during Australia's victory over India in the World Test Championship final last year and produced similar efforts when registering match-winning performances for his country in both knockout contests of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup towards the end of last year.
Player of the Match: Australia batter Travis Head earned the POTM award following his decisive 163 runs in the first innings of the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 against India
The attacking lefty isn't the only Australian on the rise, with teammates Josh Hazlewood (up three places to fourth) and spinner Nathan Lyon (up one spot to 10th) improving up the latest rankings for Test bowlers following strong performances against the West Indies as the reigning World Test Championship winners continue to dominate the Test rankings.
Four Australia players sit inside the top 10 rankings for Test batters (Smith - third, Labuschagne - fourth, Head - equal fifth and Usman Khawaja - ninth), while skipper Pat Cummins (second), Hazlewood and Lyon are all similarly placed for bowlers.
There was also some movement on the latest T20I rankings following the completion of two recent series, with New Zealand's best white-ball performers making giant strides after their series triumph over Pakistan on home soil.
The Black Caps cruised to a 4-1 series victory against the Asian side, with attacking opener Finn Allen scoring a series-high 275 runs to jump nine places to seventh on the latest rankings for T20I batters.
Teammates Tim Siefert (up three places to 20th) and Daryl Mitchell (up 10 spots to equal 27th) also made some ground, while Mitchell Santner (up two places to ninth), Tim Southee (up seven spots to equal 11th), Matt Henry (up 31 places to 44th) and Lockie Ferguson (up 29 spots to 50th) rose the T20I bowling charts courtesy of some good efforts with the white-ball.
There was also some joy for a pair of India batters following the final game of their T20I series against Afghanistan, with Rinku Singh rising 39 places to equal 31st on the back of his unbeaten half-century in the final match of the series and skipper Rohit Sharma jumping 19 spots to 49th after his century and Super Over heroics during the same clash.