Chance for Clark to go second in bowlers list; opportunity for Black Cap players to make their move up the rankings
New Zealand will drop to eighth place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Champions
hip if it loses both matches in the upcoming series against Australia .Currently in seventh place behind Pakistan and ahead of the West Indies, Daniel Vettori’s team will at least have to draw one match if it is to remain above the men from the Caribbean .
If Australia wins the series 2-0 it will gain just one ratings point. This is because as the number-one ranked side in the world, it is expected to beat the seventh-placed side and so will not benefit much from doing so as the rankings are weighted accordingly.
Equally, as the lower-ranked side, if New Zealand was to win the series 2-0 it would gain no fewer than 10 ratings points and put clear water between itself and the West Indies and begin to heap pressure on Pakistan in sixth place and England one place further above it.
There is just one player in the New Zealand squad currently in the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile Test Player Rankings in either of the bowling or batting categories. As such, a lot will depend on the all-round performance of Vettori as the Black Caps captain has been in such fine form with bat and ball in recent times.
Vettori can break into the top 10 bowlers in the world with a good display in Brisbane and Adelaide and he is currently enjoying the highest rating of his career so far in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, sitting in second place behind South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis.
Australia’s Stuart Clark was injured for much of the recent tour to India but has been named in the squad for this trans-Tasman series and if he hits his straps he could move ahead of South Africa’s Dale Steyn into second position in the bowling rankings, depending on how Steyn performs against Bangladesh in that two-match series which got underway in Bloemfontein today (Wednesday).
It is unlikely, however, that either Clark or Steyn can catch the number-one bowler, Muttiah Muralidaran such is the extent of the Sri Lanka spinner’s lead at the top.
Brett Lee (in fifth place) is the only other Australia bowler in the top 30 so this series will be an opportunity for Mitchell Johnson (in 31st place) in particular to change that state of affairs while Jason Krejza (in 49th place) will feel he can make further moves up the ladder following his memorable Test debut in India, provided of course the selectors opt for the spinner rather than another seamer.
Batting-wise Australia ’s on-paper dominance over the Kiwis is more obvious. There are five Australia batsmen in the top 20 compared to none from the opposition. As such, Michael Hussey (in fourth place), Ricky Ponting (seventh), Matthew Hayden (ninth), Michael Clarke (15th) and Andrew Symonds (18th) will all feel they can make improvements if and when the opportunity presents itself.
Upcoming matches:
20-24 Nov – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Brisbane
28 Nov-2 Dec – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Adelaide
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 19 November, ahead of the series between Australia and New Zealand )
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 129
2 India 116
3 South Africa 116
4 Sri Lanka 108
5 England 104
6 Pakistan 100
7 New Zealand 82
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 1
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 19 November, ahead of the series between Australia and New Zealand )
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2 K Sangakkara SL 886 54.79 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
4 Mike Hussey Aus 876 66.31 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
5 M Jayawardena SL 837 52.41 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
6 Kevin Pietersen Eng 829 50.51 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
7 Ricky Ponting Aus 826 57.58 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
8 Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 Matthew Hayden Aus 781 52.64 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
10 Jacques Kallis SA 774 55.46 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
11 Virender Sehwag Ind 765 51.96 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
12 Graeme Smith SA 739 49.23 759 v Eng at Edgbaston 2008
13 VVS Laxman Ind 732 45.25 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
14 Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
15 Michael Clarke Aus 685 45.61 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
16 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.30 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
17 AB de Villiers SA 679 ! 41.61 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008
18 Andrew Symonds Aus 672* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
19 Gautam Gambhir Ind 663* 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
20= R Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
Ashwell Prince SA 659 42.23 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating
1 M Muralidaran SL 895 21.96 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 Dale Steyn SA 847 22.51 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 Stuart Clark Aus 821* 22.89 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 Makhaya Ntini SA 760 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5= Brett Lee Aus 738 30.44 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
7 Harbhajan Singh Ind 688 30.77 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
8= Chaminda Vaas SL 684 29.31 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 Shane Bond NZ 654* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 Daniel Vettori NZ 647 33.39 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
13 Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
14 James Anderson Eng 620 ! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
15 Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
17 Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 Zaheer Khan Ind 599 34.59 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
19 Anil Kumble Ind 596 29.66 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
20 M Hoggard Eng 593 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Points HS Rating
1 Jacques Kallis SA 458 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 369! 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 Dwayne Bravo WI 295 /*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 Chaminda Vaas SL 281 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
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