Dubai , 18 March 2008Jacob Oram returns to top five of all-rounders’ list after career-best ranking
Young guns Tim Ambrose and Ross Taylor, and England pace duo of Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson have taken big strides in the LG ICC Player Rankings after their impressive performances in the Wellington Test which England won by 126 runs to level the three-Test series at 1-all against New Zealand.
Ambrose , England ’s 25-year-old wicketkeeper who also won the Player of the Match award for his 102 in the first innings, jumped 30 places to 68th position while Taylor, the 25-year-old New Zealand batsman, leaped 16 places to 58th spot after his knocks of 53 and 55.
While the top 13 places in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, led by Sri Lanka ’s Kumar Sangakkara, remain unchanged, England opener Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood have made movements in the right direction while Ian Bell and captain Michael Vaughan have lost ground.
Cook climbed two places to 14th, just two ratings points behind New Zealand ’s 13th placed Stephen Fleming, following his contributions of 44 and 60 while Collingwood was rewarded for his efforts of 65 and 59 by rising three places to 17th spot.
Bell and Vaughan slipped one place each to 20th and 30th positions respectively while Andrew Strauss stayed at 28th spot.
Besides Taylor , Brendon McCullum was the other notable New Zealand batsman to improve his ranking. The Black Caps’ wicketkeeper climbed five places to 42nd spot but Matthew Sinclair dropped two places to 60th position and opener Jamie How slipped seven places to 79th position.
In the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin has fallen three places to 15th spot while captain Daniel Vettori sits at 21st place after dropping two positions.
England pace duo of Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson are rewarded for their excellent display with the red cherry by climbing up the ladder.
Sidebottom, who took 6-141, rose to a career-high 24th position after climbing seven positions while Anderson, who had match figures of 7-130, also jumped seven places to 33rd spot.
Jacob Oram was the only New Zealand bowler to make an upward movement when his 6-90 lifted him seven places to a career-best 31st position.
Oram’s bowling performance had a major impact on his all-rounder’s position as he jumped five places to a career-best fifth position. South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis leads the field by a distance.
LG ICC Test Rankings (as of 17 March)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) K.C.Sangakkara SL 933 56.37 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 912*! 78.14 912 v Ind at Adelaide 2008
3= ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 899 58.53 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 899 57.78 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
5 ( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6 ( - ) Matthew Hayden Aus 860 53.51 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
7 ( - ) M.Jayawardena SL 835 51.93 836 v Eng at Birmingham 2002
8 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 816 47.31 838 v SA at Cape Town 2008
9 ( - ) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Leeds 2006
10 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 755 48.75 909 v WI at Leeds 2007
11 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 744 46.45 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
12 ( - ) S.R.Tendulkar Ind 737 55.57 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
13 ( - ) Stephen Fleming NZ 710 39.81 721 v Eng at Hamilton 2008
14 (+2) Alastair Cook Eng 708 44.48 711 v SL at Galle 2007
15 (-1) Graeme Smith SA 706 48.54 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
16 (-1) Rahul Dravid Ind 704 55.11 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
17 (+3) P.D.Collingwood Eng 688 43.14 730 v Aus at Adelaide 2006
18 (-1) Ashwell Prince SA 687 42.72 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
19 (-1) VVS Laxman Ind 679 44.20 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
20 (-1) Ian Bell Eng 660 42.57 684 v SL at Kandy 2007
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) M.Muralidaran SL 907 21.77 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 893! 21.80 893 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 829* 21.88 843 v Ind at Perth 2008
4 ( - ) Brett Lee Aus 795! 29.97 795 v Ind at Adelaide 2008
5 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 754 27.96 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 ( - ) Anil Kumble Ind 738 28.86 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
7 ( - ) Shane Bond NZ 709* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
8 ( - ) Matthew Hoggard Eng 695 30.01 795 v SL at Birmingham 2006
9 ( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 666 29.43 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
11 ( - ) Corey Collymore WI 653* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007
12 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 640 32.02 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
13 ( - ) Zaheer Khan Ind 638 33.60 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
14 ( - ) Chris Martin NZ 626 32.47 643 v Eng at Lord's 2004
15 ( - ) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 ( - ) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
17 ( - ) James Franklin NZ 612* 28.19 679 v SL at Christchurch 2006
18 ( - ) Irfan Pathan Ind 608 31.41 761 v SL at Delhi 2005
19 (+1) Monty Panesar Eng 589* 32.76 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
20 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 586 30.91 742 v Eng at Leeds 2003
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 527 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 347 359 v Eng at Hamilton 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 327 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 276 281 v Ind at Chennai 2005
5 (+5) Jacob Oram NZ 263*! 263 v Eng at Wellington 2008
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