Morgan and Finn climb Reliance ICC Player Rankings
England now ranked third in Reliance ICC ODI Championship
England's Eoin Morgan and Steven Finn have made significant advances in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODIs after England's 4-0 win over Australia in the series which concluded yesterday in Manchester.
Morgan has risen an impressive 12 places to now occupy 18th in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsman. It is the first time the Englannd batsman has broken into the top 20 since January 2011, while the 25-year-old's highest ranking in the batting lists was 12th back in 2010.
Morgan's Middlesex and England team-mate, Finn, has also made strides up the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers and is now the highest ranked England bowler in fifth place. The 23-year-old fast bowler claimed eight wickets during the series against Australia and was the most prolific wicket-taker on either side.
England batsmen, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara, have risen in the batting rankings. Bell, who has jumped 11 places to now occupy 37th, finished the series as the highest run-scorer with 189 while Bopara, who moved up nine places to 46th after 182 runs against the Australians.
There have been falls in the batting rankings for Australia's players with Shane Watson dropping one place to 10th, Michael Hussey down three to 14th but Tasmania's George Bailey hit 149 runs in the series, including 46 runs in last night's defeat at Old Trafford, to launch himself 80 places up the rankings to 76th in the world.
The batting rankings are currently topped by South Africa's Hashim Amla with team-mate AB de Villiers in second.
Clint McKay made an impressive leap of 16 places to 11th to his highest ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers but former world number one, Brett Lee, has slipped six places to 28th place. The bowling rankings are currently led by South Africa's Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez is in second place.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Watson has remained in second place behind Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, who saw his lead extended by 20 points.
Shakib has been number one in the ODI all-rounders' rankings for 432 ODIs, equalling South Africa's fifth-placed Jacques Kallis stay at the top of the table. Only India's Kapil Dev's record of 664 matches beats Shakib and Kallis.
In the Reliance ICC ODI Championship, England 4-0 victory over Australia has seen it inch closer to the number one ranking. Alastair Cook's men now sit in third place when ratings points are calculated to within the decimal point, despite being on equal points with South Africa..
The ODI Championship table is updated after every match and thus will be updated again at the conclusion of West Indies' third ODI against New Zealand tomorrow in St Lucia. The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODIs will next be updated at the conclusion of the West Indies-New Zealand series on 16 July.
Series schedule still to be completed:
WI v NZ
11 Jul - 3rd ODI, Basseterre, St Lucia
14 Jul - 4th ODI, Basseterre, St Lucia
16 Jul - 5th ODI, Basseterre, St Lucia
Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship
11 Jul - 2nd ODI, Scotland v Canada, Ayr