Lara still No 1 in the world

LONDON: His side might have been hammered 3-0 by South Africa, but West Indies captain Brian Lara is still the number one batsman in Test cricket.

Lara remains in the top spot following the four-Test series against world cricket’s No 2 side in which he scored 531 runs at an average of 66.37. There is no change in the top four spots with Lara followed by Australia Test captain-elect Ricky Ponting, India’s Rahul “The Wall” Dravid, and Australia’s Matthew Hayden, who broke Lara’s record for the highest Test score late last year. South Africans Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs, who were outstanding with the bat against West Indies, occupy positions five and six. Kallis scored centuries in each of the four Tests against Lara’s side to end with 712 runs at 178.00, while opening bat Gibbs gathered 583 at 116.60. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was given a vote of confidence by the national selectors with his appointment for the remainder of the year, India’s batting prodigy Sachin Tendulkar, New Zealand’s Mark Richardson and India’s protagonist VVS Laxman complete the top ten.

In the bowling, controversial Sri Lanka off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan maintains his number one position and so too, do the others in the top four. They are Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock, who captured 16 wickets at 29.00 apiece against West Indies, and Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath, who is currently nursing an injury. South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini, who was named “Man-of-the-Series” against West Indies, climbs two places to number five following his 29 wickets at 21.37 against Lara’s side. Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, Indian leg-spin bowler Anil Kumble, New Zealand medium-fast bowler Daryl Tuffey, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, and Sri Lanka left-arm bowler Chaminda Vaas round out the top ten.

From West Indies batting, left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul and vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan occupy positions 21 and 22 in the rankings, while Gayle at 30 and Wavell Hinds at 44 are the other batsmen in the top 50. In the West Indies bowling, the enigmatic Mervyn Dillon is the highest ranked bowler at 21 with Corey Collymore six rungs lower at 27. Out-of-action Jermaine Lawson remains in the rankings at 29, out-of-favour Pedro Collins is 48th, and Adam Sanford, recalled to replace injured Jerome Taylor in South Africa, is 50th.

Top ten Test batsmen
1. Brian Lara (West Indies); 2. Ricky Ponting (Australia); 3. Rahul Dravid (India); 4. Matthew Hayden (Australia); 5. Jacques Kallis (South Africa); 6. Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa); 7. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan); 8. Sachin Tendulkar (India); 9. Mark Richardson (New Zealand); 10. Venkata Laxman (India).

Top ten bowlers
1. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka); 2. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan); 3. Shaun Pollock (South Africa); 4. Glenn McGrath (Australia); 5. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa); 6. Jason Gillespie (Australia); 7. Anil Kumble (India); 8. Daryl Tuffey (New Zealand); 9. Harbhajan Singh (India); 10. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka).