Dubai, 4 June 2008
Sarwan also moves up after match-saving innings; Taylor into top 20 bowlers in Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings; progress too for Lee, Katich and Jaques
The West Indies has been showing that it is still very much a force to be reckoned with at Test level in recent weeks with some good results and quality performances, first against Sri Lanka and more recently up against the best side in the world, Australia .
And that resurgence is being reflected in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings with some of the best players in the Caribbean making their marks on the global scene.
After winning the man-of-the-match award in the second Test against Australia , which ended in Antigua on Tuesday, Shivnarine Chanderpaul moved up two places to fifth position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.
The 33-year-old left-hander is now level with South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis and is very much in touch with the top players, just three ratings points behind Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan , and also within striking distance of Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka in third spot, Australia captain Ricky Ponting in second and another Aussie, Michael Hussey at the top.
Chanderpaul is currently enjoying the best rating of his career and is surely in the form of his life. In the past 12 months, he has played nine Tests and plundered 1,062 runs at an average of 106.20, including five centuries. Those scores came on away tours to England and South Africa as well as this home series against Ponting’s world beaters.
West Indies ’ captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has just missed out on a return to the top 20 in the batting rankings after his fifth-day heroics at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Sarwan scored 65 in the first innings and then 128 in the second as he and Runako Morton put on 65 for the third wicket and then he and Chanderpaul added 143 for the fourth to make sure the match was saved.
As a result, the 27-year-old from Guyana gained four places to 21st in the batting rankings and with that section of the rankings very close, he could break into the top 20 with another good performance in the third and final Test of the series in Barbados from 12 to 16 June.
Other batsmen to make progress up the rankings include Simon Katich (up 12 places to 56th spot) and Phil Jaques (up three to 34th).
After missing the first Test through injury, Jerome Taylor has rocketed back into the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ICC bowlers. The 23-year-old Jamaican took five wickets in the match – including the sc alp of Ponting in both innings – and moved up 12 places in the tightly packed rankings as a result.
It is the highest ranking of Taylor ’s 19-match career to date and he is now just three ratings points behind England ’s Matthew Hoggard in 13th spot.
Australia ’s in-form fast bowler Brett Lee has strengthened his position in fourth position in the bowling rankings and is now enjoying the highest rating of his career so far. The 31-year-old New South Welshman took personal-best match figures of 8-110 in Antigua and is closing the gap on team-mate Stuart Clark, who is currently occupying third spot.
Sri Lanka ’s Muttiah Muralidaran is still in first position with Dale Steyn of South Africa just behind him in second place. With Sri Lanka hosting India in a Test series next month and the Proteas playing in England around the same time, there will be plenty of opportunity for those two bowlers to scrap it out for top spot.
Lee is also continuing to make progress with the bat following his first-innings knock of 63 not out against the West Indies . As a result he has progressed four places to 79th in the batting list and one place to eighth in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders.
The all-rounders’ rankings are still headed by Kallis, who is way out in front of Black Caps’ captain Daniel Vettori in second place and England’s Andrew Flintoff in third.
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 4 June)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 911 71.71 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
2 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 895 58.72 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
3 ( - ) K.C.Sangakkara SL 893 55.19 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
4 ( - ) Mhd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
5= (+2) S.Chanderpaul WI 877 ! 48.59 877 v Aus at Antigua 2008
( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 877 57.14 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
7 (-1) Matthew Hayden Aus 843 53.51 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
8 ( - ) M.Jayawardena SL 810 51.93 844 v WI at Guyana 2008
9 ( - ) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
10 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 750 48.60 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
11 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 734 47.04 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
12 ( - ) Andrew Symonds Aus 718*! 45.96 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
13 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 712 48.57 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
14 ( - ) S.R.Tendulkar Ind 704 55.31 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
15 ( - ) Rahul Dravid Ind 701 54.88 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
16 ( - ) Andrew Strauss Eng 687 42.34 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
17 ( - ) Virender Sehwag Ind 681 51.75 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
18 ( - ) Sourav Ganguly Ind 674 42.71 713 v Aus at Adelaide 1999
19 ( - ) VVS Laxman Ind 672 43.82 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
20 ( - ) Alastair Cook Eng 669 43.03 711 v SL at Galle 2007
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating
1 ( - ) M.Muralidaran SL 897 21.95 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 892 21.60 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 854* 21.29 856 v WI at Kingston 2008
4 ( - ) Brett Lee Aus 811 ! 29.49 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
5 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 777 27.85 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 ( - ) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 719* 26.06 724 v NZ at Lord's 2008
7 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 709 29.09 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
8 ( - ) Anil Kumble Ind 708 29.06 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
9 ( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 ( - ) Shane Bond NZ 675* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 ( - ) Monty Panesar Eng 662 31.78 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 ( - ) Corey Collymore WI 627* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007
13 ( - ) M’thew Hoggard Eng 624 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006
14 (+12) Jerome Taylor WI 621*! 34.60 621 v Aus at Antigua 2008
15= (-1) Zaheer Khan Ind 619 33.60 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
(-1) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
17 (-1) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 (-1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 609 32.02 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
19 (-1) Harbhajan Singh Ind 608 31.03 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
20 (-1) Daniel Vettori NZ 606 34.27 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 495 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 348 360 v Eng at Lord's 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 308 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 294 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
5 ( - ) Dwayne Bravo WI 275 /* 282 v Aus at Kingston 2008
ICC MEDIA RELEASE