Last Updated after: Australia v India Test, 26 December, 2007
South Africa v West Indies Test, 26 December, 2007
New Zealand v Bangladesh ODI, 31 December, 2007 LAHORE:
Sri Lanka’s
Kumar Sangakkara has returned to the top of the ICC player rankings for Test batsmen for the second time in three weeks after Australia’s Ricky
Ponting and South Africa’s Jacques
Kallis suffered rare batting failures in the Melbourne and Port Elizabeth Tests respectively.
Ponting had entered the Boxing Day Test leading second-placed
Kallis by one ratings point and third-placed
Sangakkara by three. But his contribution of four and three in his team’s 337-run victory over India meant he has conceded 19 ratings points and has fallen behind the two on 917 points.
Official ICC rankings Kallis also squandered an opportunity to surge to the top when he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of his team’s 128-run defeat to the West Indies. Despite managing 85 in his second dig, it was not enough to avoid losing 12 ratings points, illustrating just what it takes to stay at the top these days.
Kallis did just enough for him to hang on to his second place on 923 points.
Sangakkara, on 933 points, had earlier knocked
Ponting off the top spot after his performance of 92 and 152 in the first Test against England in Kandy earlier this month. The 30-year-old from
Matale then shared the top slot with the Australia captain after the second Test in Colombo in which he scored one run in the first innings and
didn’t get an opportunity to make amends in the second, a trend that was repeated in the third Test at
Galle where he scored 46 and consequently dropped to third place behind
Ponting and
Kallis.
Sangakkara’s return to the top now means that
Sri Lanka again boasts a player at the top of both the batsman and bowler categories in the ICC player rankings as world record-breaking spinner
Muttiah Muralidaran tops the bowling list.
Elsewhere, there was good news for
Ponting’s team-mate Mike
Hussey who edged closer to becoming the 24
th batsman in history to reach the 900-mark.
Hussey, who began in fifth position at 874 ratings points, climbed one position to fourth after earning eight points from the Melbourne Test which put him on a career-best 882 points. Matthew Hayden was also rewarded for his effort of 124 and 47 when he jumped two places to leapfrog
Sri Lanka’s
Mahela Jaywardena and England’s Kevin
Pietersen in sixth position. While Michael Clarke cemented his place in 11
th spot following knocks of 20 and 73, Phil
Jaques and Andrew
Symonds made movements in the right direction.
Jaques, who scored 66 and 51, jumped 12 places to 25
th position while
Symonds climbed eight places to 32
nd spot.
For India, former captain
Rahul Dravid dropped two places to 14
th but
Sachin Tendulkar and
Sourav Ganguly climbed one place each and now have South Africa’s
Ashwell Prince and Australia’s Adam Gilchrist firmly in their sights. Only five ratings point separate 15
th place Prince from 18
th place
Ganguly. There were all smiles in the West Indies camp after its first Test victory in 31 months and maiden win on South African soil. Captain Chris Gayle, who scored 66 and 29, jumped five places to 23rd while opener Daren
Ganga climbed 11 places to 58
th. Marlon
Samuels, who won the player of the match award for his 94 and 40, rocketed 18 places to 63rd while
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose 104 in the first innings was the foundation for a big first innings total, established himself in 10
th position and is now just nine points adrift of Pakistan’s
Yunus Khan in ninth place. The only consolation for South Africa was the improvement in AB
de Villiers’ ranking. He climbed eight places to 33rd position.
Meanwhile, Prince and Graeme Smith dropped one place each to 15
th and 22
nd respectively. Hashim
Amla fell four places to 38
th while
Herschelle Gibbs, who had a pair in the Port Elizabeth Test, dropped 11 places to 40
th spot. In the ICC player rankings for Test bowlers, Australia’s Stuart Clark replaced South Africa’s
Makhaya Ntini in second place whose team-mate Dale
Steyn also dropped three places to sixth. Clark’s effort of 5-48 in the Test helped him jump two places and placed him 27 points ahead of
Ntini who managed 4-135 in the match and consequently conceded 13 ratings points.
India captain
Anil Kumble and Brett Lee of Australia gained one place each.
Kumble’s match effort of 7-186 puts him in fourth place while Lee’s 6-89 places him in fifth position, just two points behind the Indian wrist spinner.
Mitchell Johnson’s 3-21 in the second innings helped him gain nine places and he is now ranked in 45
th spot.
Like its batsmen, West Indies’ bowlers are also on an upward move. While Fidel Edwards retained his place in 34
th position, Jerome Taylor jumped seven places to 35
th spot, Daren Powell climbed two places to 38
th position and Darren Sammy lifted four places to 46
th position. In the player rankings for Test all-rounders, Chris Gayle leapfrogged India’s
Irfan Pathan in sixth place. However, the West Indies captain is still 29 points behind fifth-placed
Chaminda Vaas of
Sri Lanka. The all-rounders’ list is headed by
Kallis with England’s Andrew
Flintoff a distant second.
Click to expand...
