Seales, Holder up in ICC rankings

LONDON, England (CMC):

Teenage fast bowler Jayden Seales and former captain Jason Holder were the only players making significant strides in the most recent International Cricket Council (ICC) Test player rankings announced yesterday.

Seales, 19, picked up three wickets in the first innings of the second Test against Pakistan at Sabina Park in Kingston to end the series with 11 scalps, and jumped four spots to 54th in the bowling rankings.

He was wicketless in the second innings as West Indies went on to lose the match by 109 runs on Tuesday’s final day.

Holder, meanwhile, remained unmoved at ninth in the bowling rankings after finishing the second Test with four wickets, but his scores of 26 and 47 saw him climb six places to 37th in the batting rankings.

The 29-year-old was good enough to score a half-century in the first Test last week, also staged at Sabina Park.

There was little else for West Indies to celebrate in the rankings, however.

Vice-captain Jermaine Blackwood moved up one in the batting rankings to 35th following scores of 33 and 25 in the second Test, as he ended the series with 135 runs at an average of nearly 34.

He is the highest ranked West Indies batsman.

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite was unmoved at 45th, while Nkrumah Bonner (73rd) and Roston Chase (74th) both dropped one place.

Kyle Mayers, who endured a nightmare in the series with ducks in his first three innings before hitting 32 in his last outing, remained unmoved at 77th.

Holder continued as the highest ranked Caribbean bowler and world’s leading all-rounder, while fast bowler Kemar Roach remained 11th and Shannon Gabriel – who missed the series – was also unmoved at 27th.

Off-spinner Chase slipped two places to 46th, while fast bowler Alzarri Joseph climbed two spots to 64th after taking two wickets in the second innings of the second Test.

Outstanding 21-year-old left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who ended the two-match series with 18 wickets following a 10-wicket match haul in the second Test, has shot up 10 places to eighth in the bowling rankings.