Time is right for big Benn as Gayle and Sarwan make it a match to remember for the West Indies; England’s Strauss and Panesar lose ground in
rankingsJerome Taylor has become the highest-ranked West Indies Test bowler since the retirement of Courtney Walsh in 2001 following his impressive performance against England in the first Test of a four-match series.
Playing in front of a home crowd at Sabina Park, the 24-year-old Jamaican had man of the match-winning figures of 29-8-85-8, including 5-11 in the second innings as England was dismissed for 51 in 33.2 overs.
This most recent effort has catapulted him up 11 places to sixth spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, giving him a personal-best rating and putting him in a good position to launch an assault on the top five during the remainder of the series.
With 717 ratings points, he still has a way to go to achieve the heights of some of the legendary West Indies bowlers of the past, however. Curtley Ambrose, Wes Hall, Lance Gibbs, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Michael Holding, Walsh and other great players all achieved higher ratings during their careers but Taylor’s effort is the best from a West Indies bowler since Walsh retired in 2001 while ranked at number three in the world.
The other bowler to excel during the match was 6ft 7in left-arm slow bowler Sulieman Benn, who bowled beautifully on a turning track, taking 8-108 in the match from 58.4 overs. As a result, Benn has gained 20 places and now stands in 52nd position, just one place behind England’s Stuart Broad, who gains five places following the match.
The news is not so good for the other slow left-armer in the match, Monty Panesar of England, who slips four places to 19th in the latest rankings after registering figures of 1-122.
The bowling list is still led by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran, who has been playing ODIs, followed by Dale Steyn of South Africa and Australia’s Stuart Clark.
West Indies captain Chris Gayle goes up four places to 15th position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after scoring what was his ninth century at that level and his first on the home turf of Sabina Park. Gayle’s overall batting average in Tests is a respectable 40.10 but his average in the eight matches since taking over as captain of the team is 56.46, indicating that the weight of leading the team has so far sat comfortably on his broad shoulders.
His opposite number for England Andrew Strauss loses three places to 18th in the rankings after what was a forgettable first game in charge for the 31-year-old left-hander.
The other main mover in the batting list is Ramnaresh Sarwan, whose century has earned him four places and puts him in 22nd position with plenty of opportunities coming up to break back into the top 20.
The rankings are still headed by Sarwan’s team-mate Shivnarine Chanderpaul while England’s Kevin Pietersen hangs on to his number-four position thanks to his innings of 97 in the first innings.
In more good news for Gayle, he has moved back into the top five in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, jumping above fellow West Indian Dwayne Bravo, who is injured. That list remains headed by Jacques Kallis of South Africa followed by Daniel Vettori of New Zealand and England’s Andrew Flintoff.
Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 8 February)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) S Chanderpaul WI 892 49.53 900 v NZ at Napier 2008
2 ( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
3 ( - ) K Sangakkara SL 859 54.37 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
4 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 828 50.45 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
5 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 825 ! 49.40 825 v SA at Sydney 2009
6 ( - ) M Jayawardena SL 819 52.36 854 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
7 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 810 56.87 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
8 ( - ) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 797 50.57 810 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
10 ( - ) Gautam Gambhir Ind 771*! 49.35 771 v Eng at Mohali 2008
11 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 761 59.36 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
12 ( - ) Virender Sehwag Ind 729 51.06 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
13 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 726 54.57 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
14 ( - ) Ashwell Prince SA 709 45.68 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
15 (+4) Chris Gayle WI 703 ! 40.10 703 v Eng at Kingston 2009
16= ( - ) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.27 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
( - ) VVS Laxman Ind 683 44.45 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
18 (-3) Andrew Strauss Eng 673 41.69 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
19 (-1) Hashim Amla SA 671 ! 41.30 671 v Aus at Sydney 2009
20 (-1) Simon Katich Aus 670 ! 43.43 670 v SA at Sydney 2009
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) M Muralidaran SL 887 21.95 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 844 23.08 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 782* 22.96 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 ( - ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 756* 28.62 779 v SA at Perth 2008
5 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 754 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 (+11) Jerome Taylor WI 717*! 32.56 717 v Eng at Kingston 2009
7 (-1) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 703* 26.14 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
8 (-1) Chaminda Vaas SL 688 29.22 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
9 (-1) Harbhajan Singh Ind 686 30.88 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
10 (-1) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
11 (-1) Brett Lee Aus 673 30.81 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
12 (-1) Daniel Vettori NZ 653 33.09 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
13 (-1) Zaheer Khan Ind 630 34.04 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
14 (-1) Shane Bond NZ 629* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
15= ( - ) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
(-1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 619 32.15 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
17 (+1) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 (+1) James Anderson Eng 605 35.22 622 v Ind at Chennai 2008
19 (-4) Monty Panesar Eng 594 33.61 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
20 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 589 31.12 742 v Eng at Headingley 2003
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 428 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 347 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 309 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 283 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
5 (+1) Chris Gayle WI 282 /*! 282 v Eng at Kingston 2009
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