Lee drops out of top five bowlers; Smith breaks into top 10 batsmen; progress, too, for Katich, Prince, Clarke and Taylor
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has moved up 18 places in the Reliance Mobile
ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after a man-of-the-match performance in the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane .The 27-year-old left-armer registered match figures of 9-69 in 25.3 overs – the best figures of his career to date – as Australia beat its trans-Tasman rival by 149 runs at the ’Gabba.
That effort means Johnson moves up to 12th position as he enjoys his highest rating yet, level with New Zealand ’s Daniel Vettori. And there is potential for further improvement as the second Test begins in Adelaide on 28 November – a place in the top 10 beckons.
The news is not so good for Brett Lee as the New South Welshman has slipped out of the top five bowlers into sixth position. Top spot is still occupied by Sri Lanka ’s Muttiah Muralidaran with Dale Steyn of South Africa in second place and Lee’s Australia team-mate Stuart Clark in third.
Proteas skipper Graeme Smith has broken into the top 10 following his performance in the first Test against Bangladesh at Bloemfontein . The 27-year-old hit 157 for his country in the first innings, which went a long way towards ensuring an innings victory for South Africa .
Smith gains three places to ninth in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen with Australia ’s Matthew Hayden and South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis both dropping out of the top 10.
Smith’s team-mate Ashwell Prince also gained three places, to 17th position, after an unbeaten half-century in that match, while Hashim Amla has gone up two places to 25th position after hitting a century.
For Australia, Simon Katich’s outstanding innings of 131 not out in the second innings against New Zealand was a crucial factor in his side’s victory as many of his team-mates seemed to struggle with the bat. This knock has elevated Katich up seven places and he now looks poised, in 26th position, to launch an assault on the top 20 for the first time.
Vice-captain Michael Clarke held the Australia line-up together in the first innings and was out just two runs short of what would have been his ninth Test century. However, he does gain one place in the rankings for his trouble and now sits in 14th position, ahead of England ’s Alastair Cook but behind VVS Laxman of India.
It was not a particularly memorable match for New Zealand ’s batsmen with one notable exception. Number-four batsman Ross Taylor’s efforts of 40 and 75 earn him 12 places and he now sits in 31st position on the highest rating of his life so far.
Top of the ladder is Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, followed in second place by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka .
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 23 November)
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 88 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 846 64.04 921 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 (+1) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
8 (-1) Ricky Ponting Aus 793 57.06 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
9 (+3) Graeme Smith SA 783 ! 50.15 783 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2008
10 (+1) Virender Sehwag Ind 765 51.96 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
11 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 760 55.23 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
12 (-3) Matthew Hayden Aus 744 52.04 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
13 ( - ) VVS Laxman Ind 732 45.25 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
14 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus 715 45.89 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
15 (-1) Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
16 ( - ) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.30 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
17 (+3) Ashwell Prince SA 675 43.15 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
18 ( - ) Andrew Symonds Aus 664* 43.25 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
19 ( - ) Gautam Gambhir Ind 663* 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
20 (-3) AB de Villiers SA 661 41.08 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008
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 853 22.08 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 827* 22.34 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 782 27.94 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5 ( - ) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
6 (-1) Brett Lee Aus 726 30.44 811 v WI at Antigua 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 (+1) Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
11 (-1) Shane Bond NZ 648* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
12= ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 641 33.29 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
(+18) Mitchell Johnson Aus 641*! 30.50 641 v NZ at Brisbane 2008
14 (-1) Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
15 (-1) James Anderson Eng 620 ! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
16 (-1) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
17 (-1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
18 (-1) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
19 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 608 30.82 742 v Eng at Headingley 2003
20 (-2) Zaheer Khan Ind 599 34.59 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 462 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 350 369 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
ICC MEDIA RELEASE