Super Smith hits historic rankings high

Steve Smith's series-defining 239 in the third Magellan Ashes Test in Perth has propelled him to a new high as a Test batsman, with the Australia captain now sitting on 945 ratings points on the ICC Test Player Rankings system.

Smith, the clear leader in the ICC Test batting rankings currently, climbed to 941 ratings points following his match-winning 143 in the first Test in Brisbane last month - the equal-fifth-highest rating of all time. 

After returns of 40 and six in the second Test in Adelaide, the unorthodox right-hander slipped three points to 938 - still good enough to place him in the top 10 all time. 

But after his career-best double ton at the WACA Ground, made during a record-breaking 301-run stand with Mitchell Marsh (181), Smith has overtaken some of the greats and drawn level with England legend Sir Len Hutton, to sit behind only Sir Donald Bradman on the all-time list. 

Below is a look at where Smith is placed on the list, and how Australia's Ashes-winning skipper managed to scale such an illustrious peak. 

1. Sir Donald Bradman (Aus)

Top rating: 961 v India, Feb 10, 1948

No surprises that Bradman tops the list here, but what's more interesting is that the Boy from Bowral's peak period came in the final year of his career. So what did Bradman do to become the only player in Test history to push beyond 950 ICC ratings points? Well the legendary right-hander played 15 of his 52 Tests after WWII, returning to Test cricket with scores 187 and 234 in consecutive Tests in the summer of 1946-47. Three matches then passed in which he didn't reach triple figures before the visit of India the following summer, against whom he made 185 in the first Test, 13 in the second, 132 and 127no in the third (the only time in his career he did the century double), 201 in the fourth and 57no in the fifth. The final Test finished on February 10, with the Don's devastating run streak duly recognised with the historic rating of 961.

=2. Steve Smith (Australia)

Top rating: 945 v England, December 19, 2017

Smith climbed into sixth spot with 939 ratings points during Australia's tour of India in February-March, when he racked up centuries in three of the four Tests in conditions normally deemed particularly challenging for Australian batsmen. In doing so he became the first player in history to score hundreds in five consecutive Tests against India. Prior to that, he had made back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan in Brisbane and Melbourne across the 2016-17 Australian summer, and while a best of 58 against Bangladesh in August-September meant a rare series without a century, his superb form in the Ashes ultimately pushed him into equal-second all-time - with two Tests in the series still to play. 

=2. Sir Len Hutton (Eng)

Top rating: 945 v West Indies, April 3, 1954

Hutton is best remembered for the stunning 364 he made as a 22-year-old in just his sixth Test, but it was almost 16 years after that knock when he hit his absolute peak, according to the ratings system. Taking on the West Indies in the Caribbean in a five-match series that was drawn 2-2, Hutton made 72 and 77 in a losing cause in the second Test as England slipped to defeats in the opening two matches. His 169 in the third Test was the only hundred of the match in an England win, and he backed it up with a stunning 205 in the fifth and final Test – an innings ranked by Wisden in 2001 as the 60th best of all time.

4. Sir Jack Hobbs (Eng)

Top rating: 942 v Australia, August 23, 1912

Hobbs' top rating came just four-and-a-half years into his legendary career, and interestingly followed a string of half-centuries as opposed to big hundreds like the aforementioned pair. That said, the Englishman had managed scores of 187, 126no, 187, 178 and 107 in the 11 Tests leading up to his lofty rating of 942, which came immediately after his 66 was the top first-innings score in England's Ashes-winning effort in August 1912.

=4. Ricky Ponting (Aus)

Top rating: 942 v England, December 5, 2006

Devastated by Ashes defeat in 2005, Ponting bounced back stronger than ever when he had his shot at retribution against the Old Enemy in the summer of 2006-07. He began with a stunning 196 in the first innings of the first Test in Brisbane to set the tone for the series, backed it up with 60no in the second innings and then made 142 and 49 as the series moved to Adelaide. During that second hundred, made in his 108th Test, his average touched 60, and his stunning run of form was recognised with the equal-third highest Test batting rating ever.

6. Peter May (Eng)

Top rating: 941 v Australia, August 27, 1956

The least decorated batsman on this list, May nonetheless scaled serious heights when his double of 83no and 37no helped England draw the fifth Test of the 1956 Ashes, handing them a 2-1 series win. Prior to that, he'd made three hundreds and five fifties in his previous nine Tests. One of those centuries – a second-innings 112 against South Africa at Lord's a year earlier – gave the home side a remarkable come-from-behind win, and came in at No.61 when Wisden released its top 100 Test innings in 2001.

7. Sir Clyde Walcott (WI)

Top rating:  938 v Australia, June 15, 1955

The first batsman to appear outside of traditional powerhouses of Australia and England, Walcott reigned as one of the three 'W's for the West Indies alongside Sir Everton Weekes and Sir Frank Worrell during the 1950s. It was in the middle of that decade that the sometimes keeper-batsman hit his ratings high, courtesy of a runs spree against Australia in the Caribbean. Remarkably, in a five-match series that the Australians won 3-0, Walcott scored five hundreds, with his string of scores reading: 108 & 39, 126 & 110, 8 & 73, 15 & 83, 155 & 110.

=7. Sir Vivian Richards (WI)

Top rating: 938 v England, March 31, 1981

What's a top 10 batting list without the Master Blaster? Richards wielded his willow with supremacy for some 17 years in Test cricket, and it was six-and-a-half years after his debut that his ICC batting rating reached rare air. After the No.3 posted a seven-hour unbeaten 120 in a tense Test in Pakistan in which only the hosts captain, Javed Miandad (57), also passed 50, he returned to the Caribbean and produced two hundreds in three Tests against England. The first was a devastating 182no from 256 balls that set up a comfortable win (ranked 69th on Wisden's Top 100 Test innings in 2001), while the second was a more measured 114 in a drawn affair in Antigua, the result sealing a series win for the hosts.

=7 Sir Garfield Sobers (WI)

Top rating: 938 v India, January 17, 1967

Sobers had passed 50 in nine of his past 11 Test innings when his ICC rating hit 938 – the equal-seventh highest of all time. A run of five consecutive half-centuries in India, two of them unbeaten, was preceded by a superb series in England in 1966, when arguably the greatest allrounder of them all made scores of 161, 46 & 163no, 3 & 94, 174, 81 & 0 to take his team to a memorable series victory, considered by many to be his finest hour.

=7 Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

Top rating: 938 v England, December 5, 2007

Sangakkara was halfway through a Test career that produced a record number of runs for Sri Lanka when he matched the above West Indian trio on 938 ratings points. The prolific left-hander had an extraordinary 2007, going on a run of seven hundreds in nine Tests against five different nations. It began with his famous 287 against South Africa, as part of a world record partnership with Mahela Jaywardena, then continued against the Black Caps with unbeaten scores of 100 and 156. Against Bangladesh, he made 200no and 222no, plundered 57 and 192 in Hobart against Australia, then finished off with 92 and 152 against England in Kandy. In all, Sangakkara had piled on 1529 runs – more than 12 per cent of his career tally of 12,400 – at 152.90 in just 14 innings.

*All rankings courtesy of the ICC's official rankings system

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21