DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – In-form West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels has vaulted a whopping 20 places in the Test batting rankings, following his outstanding performance in the just concluded second Test against England at Trent Bridge.
The Jamaican right-hander stroked 117 in the first innings and an unbeaten 76 in the second, to move to 35th in the latest rankings released on Tuesday.
West Indies lost the match by nine wickets inside four days on Monday.
Samuels also made progress in the bowlers’ rankings, jumping five places to 81st after picking up three wickets with his part-time off-spin during the Test.
Captain Darren Sammy, meanwhile, has also moved up in the batting rankings to 55th, following his maiden Test century at Trent Bridge.
Sammy stroked 106 in the West Indies first innings, sharing in a record seventh wicket stand of 204 with Samuels.
The right-arm seamer was not so fortunate in the bowlers’ rankings, however, dropping two places after picking up a brace of wickets in the first innings.
Sammy and Samuels were the only bright spots for West Indies as many of their other batsmen were given failing grades.
Darren Bravo dropped one spot to 22nd, Kirk Edwards slipped three places to 56th, opener Adrian Barath lost seven places to tumble to 74th while Denesh Ramdin also crashed seven spots to 88th.
In the bowling, speedster Kemar Roach lost ground, dropping two places to 17th but seamer Ravi Rampaul rose four places to 40th after playing his first Test of the series.
Veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul remains on top the batting rankings while South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn leads the bowlers’ rankings.