Cricket: Boult, Southee and trio of batters get a healthy rankings bump

New Zealand's Tim Southee is ranked ninth in the world hierarchy of bowlers. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee are making an impact on the world game and their rising rankings are proving it.

In the latest test list, left-armer Boult is at a career high No7, while Southee sits at No9 in a top 10 dominated by fast-medium bowlers.

The only exception is Sri Lanka's left arm spinner Rangana Herath, expected to line up in the second test against New Zealand starting at the Basin Reserve tomorrow and the game's leading test wicket taker last year with 60.

New Zealand's three best batsmen, Ross Taylor, captain Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson, sit in a row at Nos 11, 12 and 13 respectively among the top test batsmen.

South Africans Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers head the bowling and batting charts.

Southee said the placings were reward for the quality of cricket New Zealand have been playing in the past year.

"Everyone does their part for the team, and those individual accolades take care of themselves," he said.

"You start worrying about them first, you slip away from what your main focus is. It's nice to be recognised but first and foremost it's about doing a job for the team."

Among the batsmen, McCullum and Williamson are in their highest-ranking spots, as are Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews, Australian skipper Steve Smith and England's Joe Root.

Southee is also among the top 10 test allrounders, at No8, with Dan Vettori, despite playing only one test in the past two and a half years, at No10. Bangladesh's Shakib al Hasan leads that group, followed by South African Vernon Philander and Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin.

World top 10 rankings
Batsmen:
1 AB de Villiers (South Africa) 893 rating
2 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 891
3 Hashim Amla (SA) 887
4 Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) 877
5 Steve Smith (Australia) 853
6 Shiv Chanderpaul (West Indies) 848
7 Younis Khan (Pakistan) 818
8 David Warner (Australia) 815
9 Joe Root (England) 789
10 Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan) 777
Also:
11 Ross Taylor (NZ) 772
12 Brendon McCullum (NZ) 760
13 Kane Williamson (NZ) 753

Bowlers:
1 Dale Steyn (SA) 901
2 Ryan Harris (Australia) 851
3 Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) 842
4 Vernon Philander (SA) 822
5 Mitchell Johnson (Australia) 812
6 James Anderson (England) 806
7 Trent Boult (NZ) 805
8 Stuart Broad (England) 774
9 Tim Southee (NZ) 767
10 Kemar Roach (West Indies) 766