Sidebottom a top 10 hit

27 March 2008 | By Justin Goulding

Ryan Sidebottom led the way with the ball for England in New Zealand © Getty Images

Ryan Sidebottom’s remarkable achievements in New Zealand have been recognised by his climb to 10th in the International Cricket Council Test bowling rankings.

The left-arm seamer played a key role in England’s 2-1 Test series triumph, their first on foreign soil for three years.

Sidebottom, who returned to Test cricket last summer after a six-year absence, took 24 wickets at an average of 17, including a hat-trick in Hamilton and Test-best figures of 7-47 in Napier.

He was named man of the series as well as collecting the match award in the final Test, and his stunning return lifted him 14 places to a career high in the rankings with a rating of 665.

Monty Panesar moved up four places to 16th, while Stuart Broad, who has played just three Tests, rose from 86th to 63rd.

Matthew Hoggard - dropped for the final two Tests of the series - sits 13th and Andrew Flintoff, who continues his recovery from ankle surgery, one place below.

Muttiah Muralitharan leads the bowling rankings, while Sri Lanka team-mate Kumar Sangakkara remains top of the batting charts.

Kevin Pietersen is England’s leading batsman in 10th, with Alastair Cook (17th), Ian Bell (19th), Paul Collingwood (20th) and Andrew Strauss (22nd) also among the upper echelons.