Holder toppled from the top spot; Roach closes in on top 10

LONDON – Jason Holder has been dislodged from the top of the all-rounder’s charts. Still, Jermaine Blackwood and Kemar Roach enjoyed upward movement in the latest International Cricket Council Test player rankings announced Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Holder has slipped to second behind the new leader, India’s Ravindra Jadeja, after losing 28 rating points, following his lackluster showing in the just-concluded Test series against South Africa in St Lucia.

As part of an overall disappointing performance by the home side, Holder managed 34 runs from four innings and took six wickets at 24 runs apiece with his fast-medium.

However, he remains the highest-ranked West Indies bowler at number 10 but has slumped to 49th in the batting rankings.

Meanwhile, Roach was West Indies’ leading bowler with nine wickets at an average of 17, an effort that saw him jump one place to 12th in the bowling rankings.

The 32-year-old now has 223 Test wickets, eighth on the all-time list of Windies wicket-takers, and now only 12 behind the legendary Sir Garry Sobers in seventh.

Blackwood, who endured a flawed first Test against the South Africans with one and 13, rebounded somewhat in the second Test to make 49 and 25 and jump 12 places to 44th.

The right-handed Jamaican passed 2 000 Test runs during the first innings of the second Test.

Despite enduring a miserable series with the bat, there was some joy for Kyle Mayers, who claimed six wickets with his medium pace in the second Test to storm 51 places up to 53rd in the bowling rankings.

Shai Hope, who returned to Test cricket for the series after being dropped last year, moved up three places to 82nd, while Kieran Powell, a concussion substitute in the first Test for Nkrumah Bonner, has jumped six places to 94 following his 51 in the second innings of the last Test.

West Indies were swept in the series, losing the first Test by an innings and 63 runs and the second by 158 runs.

Australian Steve Smith tops the batting rankings while his countryman Pat Cummins is the top-ranked bowler.