Cook climbs rankings

Alastair Cook

England may have lost the Test series in Sri Lanka but Alastair Cook earned some personal consolation when he climbed five places to 13th in the ICC rankings after his match-saving 118 in Galle.

Australia’s Ricky Ponting regained sole possession of the coveted top slot after Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara dropped two places to third position despite his team’s 1-0 victory over England last week.

Sangakkara had snatched the pole position from Ponting after the first Test in Kandy following knocks of 92 and 152.

However, after a disappointing second Test in Colombo where he scored just one run, he slipped down level with the Australia captain.

In the third and final Test in Galle, Sangakkara scored 46 in the first innings and did not get a second opportunity in the match.