Australia's thumping first-test win over New Zealand in Perth hasn't halted Neil Wagner's rapid rise as a world-class bowler.
The fiery left-armer took seven wickets in Perth, including emerging Australian batting maestro Marnus Labuschagne twice.
Latest ICC men's test rankings have Wagner holding firm in third, behind South Africa's Kagiso Rabada and Australian Pat Cummins.
The biggest winner from Perth was Mitchell Starc, who jumped from 14th to fifth, after his nine-wicket haul with the pink ball. Blackcaps spearhead Tim Southee, who also took nine wickets at Optus Stadium, jumped four spots from 14th equal to 10th.
Ross Taylor climbed to 11th in the batting ranks, but a poor test for Henry Nicholls saw the talented left-hander slip outside the top 10 for the first time in 2019, after accumulating just 28 runs across two innings.
Remarkably, New Zealand still hold more batsmen in the world's top 20 (five) than their series hosts (three - Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner).
The rankings of skipper Kane Williamson (third), Taylor (11th), Nicholls (13), Tom Latham (16th) and BJ Watling (17th) show the measure of work the team has put in the last 12 months, and the potential for a possible turnaround in Melbourne.
The Blackcaps have remained second in the test team ranking, with Australia still fifth.
ICC men's test match rankngs:
Batting
1. Virat Kohli (India)
2. Steve Smith (Australia)
3. Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
4. Cheteshwar Pujara (India)
5. Marnus Labuschagne (Australia)
6. Ajinkya Rahane (India)
7. David Warner (Australia)
8. Joe Root (England)
9. Babar Azam (Pakistan)
10. Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)
Bowling
1. Pat Cummins (Australia)
2. Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
3. Neil Wagner (New Zealand)
4. Jason Holder (West Indies)
5. Mitchell Starc (Australia)
6. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
7. Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
8. Vernon Philander (South Africa)
9. James Anderson (England)
10. Tim Southee (New Zealand)
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