Smith hits lowest Test ranking points in a decade

Australian batting great Steve Smith has fallen to his lowest points tally in the ICC world Test rankings in a decade following an update after the Wellington Test.

The rating for the 34-year-old, who scored 31 in the first innings before a second-innings duck against New Zealand in Australia's first-Test win, has dropped below 800 points for the first time since 2014.

The points drop to 789 saw him move to third in the Test batting rankings behind England's Joe Root (799 points).

New Zealander Kane Williamson (870) remains comfortably at the top of the charts despite his own disappointing time in Wellington as he made just nine and nought, while a century against India elevated Root.

ICC Men's Test batting

• 1 Kane Williamson (NZ) 870 rating points
• 2 Joe Root (ENG) 799
• 3 Steve Smith (AUS) 789
• 4 Daryl Mitchell (NZ) 771
• 5 Babar Azam (PAK) 760
• 6 Usman Khawaja (AUS) 755

Notable others:

• 12 Travis Head (AUS) 718
• 13 Marnus Labuschagne (AUS) 707
• 23 Cameron Green (AUS) 661
• 50 Alex Carey (AUS) 525

At the end of January, Smith was in defensive mood about his new opening role when he carried his bat for 91 in the narrow Test defeat against West Indies at the Gabba, pointing out his average at the top of the order was 60.

That's no longer the case after he chopped on in the first over of the second innings in Wellington.

Smith's ICC rating points peak came in 2018 when he hit 947 points following Australia's first Test win against South Africa in Durban. Two Tests later Smith would be banned from the game for 12 months.

Marnus Labuschagne, who like Smith has been a No.1 ranked batter, has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since December 2019 after he was dismissed for one and two in Wellington.

ICC Men's Test Bowling

• 1 Jasprit Bumrah (IND) 867 rating points
• 2 Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) 846
• 3 Kagiso Rabada (SA) 834
• 4 Josh Hazlewood (AUS) 822
• 5 Pat Cummins (AUS) 811
• 6 Nathan Lyon (AUS) 797
• 12 Mitch Starc (AUS) 722

But there was one big Australian mover in the right direction as Cameron Green's unbeaten 174 in the first innings and 34 in the second elevated him 22 places in the rankings to 23rd on the list.

Among the bowlers, Nathan Lyon's match-winning10-wicket haul against New Zealand moves him to sixth in the rankings.

Another performance like that this week in Christchurch would move him past his career-best rating 799 points reached after the Edgbaston Ashes Test in 2023.

Qantas Tour of New Zealand

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February 29 – March 4: Australia won the first Test by 172 runs

March 8-12: Second Test, Christchurch, 9am AEDT

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc

New Zealand Test squad: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.