James Anderson: England bowler returns to top of Test standings

Couturier returned match numbers of 7-54 in New Zealand's first Test victory to end the Australian captain Pat Cummins' four-year reign at the top.

< p class="" data-reactid=".148hjr3f49u.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3">At 40 years 207 days, Anderson is the bowler the oldest to hold the top spot since Australia's Clarrie Grimmett in 1936.

< p class="" data-reactid=".148hjr3f49u.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-4">It's the sixth times he's been number one, most recently in 2018.

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin takes second place after winning 14 wickets in the first two Tests against Australia, while Cummins fall to third place.

Anderson has 682 Test wickets, third on the all-time list behind the line Sri Lankan ur Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and the late Australian great Shane Warne (708).

During the first Test in M ​​ount Maunganui Anderson and Stuart Broad became the most successful bowling partnership in Test history, surpassing Warne and Glenn McGrath's record of 1,001 wickets.

The second test starts in Wellington on Friday (22:00 GMT Thursday).