The Australian cricket team has again topped the ICC Test rankings after a dominant 4-0 Ashes series win over England.
In further good news for the Aussies, Travis Head has shot up into the top ten Test batsman rankings to fifth.
It's the first time since May 2020 that the Australians have topped the table. Each test win is worth 12 points, so capitalising at home is crucial.
Unfortunately, the rained affected Test in Sydney cost them the chance to have an even bigger lead.
Leapfrogging India and New Zealand, the Aussies have made the most of a five-Test home series this summer, while India's recent series loss to South Africa has cost them.
As for Head, the news caps a golden summer for the South Australian. Previously ranked 10th, he is the biggest mover on the list. His centuries in Brisbane and Tasmania, coupled with a half-century in Adelaide saw him shoot up to equal fifth in the rankings.
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Following a strong start to the summer in Brisbane, where he set up the win, Head backed it up with a solid 51 in Adelaide to put the Aussies in a good position to retain the Ashes. His innings in Hobart was undoubtedly his finest.
Coming to the crease at 3/12, he put on a display of counterattacking cricket that took the game away from England. Going on to score 101, the innings secured him the player of the series award. It also cemented his spot at number 5 in the Test side for years to come.
While Steve Smith has slipped down to fourth in the rankings, Marnus Labuschagne has taken top spot. The eccentric Queenslander scored two half-centuries and a century while the Ashes were there to be won.
As a result, he managed to knock Joe Root off top spot. A particularly impressive feat when you consider Root had just broken the record for most Test runs in a calendar year by an Englishman.
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Sadly for the Aussies, David Warner has slipped from eighth spot to eleventh. Following his heroics at the T20 World Cup, he endured a relatively lean summer, failing to score a century.
With Pat Cummins the number one ranked Test bowler, Australia now boasts the number one position across the three rankings.
