Steyn drops to fifth on ICC Test bowler rankings
Dale Steyn has dropped one spot to fifth in the ICC Test bowler rankings after topping the rankings every year since 2008.
|||Johannesburg - Dale Steyn has dropped one spot to fifth in the ICC Test bowler rankings released on Monday. Steyn who topped the rankings every year since 2008, lost his number one spot at the end of 2015.
The 32-year-old pulled up with an injured shoulder in the Boxing Day Test against England in Durban last year, and did not play any cricket again until March.
Though Steyn boasts by far the best average (22.53) of the bowlers in the top five, the injury-plagued Proteas spearhead would be hoping to remain healthy for the rest of 2016. South Africa next play Test cricket again when they host New Zealand in a two-Test series in August.
Steyn is also close to becoming the leading wicket-taker in South African Test cricket with his 406 scalps. Shaun Pollock currently holds the accolade with 421 victims in the 108 Tests he played.
In contrast, Steyn has played just 82 Tests. Morne Morkel (ninth) and Vernon Philander (10th) are the other Proteas bowlers in the top-10.
At the top off the rankings is England's Stuart Broad, with India's Ravi Ashwin second. James Anderson returned to third position following his excellent match figures of 10-45 in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley last week.
On the batting side, Aussie Steve Smith continues to top the rankings with England batsman Joe Root second. Hashim Amla (fourth) and AB de Villiers (sixth) are the only South Africans in the top-10.
African News Agency