Travis Head has turned England’s latest Test slip into a rankings statement.
The Australia batter has moved to No.1 in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings after Joe Root and Harry Brook both lost rating points during England’s 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand.
Head now sits on 853 rating points, one ahead of Brook, with Root down to third after surrendering top spot just a week after reclaiming it. The ICC confirmed the update on 1 July, with Root losing 31 points and Brook dropping 14.
Latest ICC men’s player rankings update.
— ICC (@ICC) July 1, 2026
Head Move Sharpens England Contrast
The move matters because it is not built on volume alone. Head has overtaken two England batters without Australia playing in the referenced update window, underlining how damaging England’s Nottingham defeat became for their two most prominent red-ball run-makers.
Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway and Tom Latham all climbed after New Zealand’s series win, while Ben Duckett’s first-innings hundred moved him from 17th to 14th.
The bowling update added another layer. Jasprit Bumrah returned to No.1 in the Test bowling rankings after Matt Henry missed the Nottingham Test through injury, while Nathan Smith and William O’Rourke both gained ground.
For England, the rankings read like a blunt audit: Head is now the benchmark, Brook has lost the lead by a single point, and Root’s latest stay at the summit has ended quickly. It also sharpens the scrutiny around Brook’s next white-ball leadership test, covered in ReadCricket’s England India T20I XI analysis.
