Lara back as world No 1 batsman

LONDON: West Indies captain Brian Lara has returned to the top spot in the world batting rankings, according to the PriceWaterhouse Coopers Test ratings.

The double world batting record holder’s double century against Sri Lanka in the drawn first Cable and Wireless Test match against Sri Lanka was enough to leapfrog him four places above him. Lara’s amazing run-spree — 742 runs in his last five Tests — has ensured that he has overtaken Australian Matthew Hayden as the best batsman in the world, the latest PWC Ratings showed this week.

The 34-year-old Lara scored 533 runs in the four-Test series against Australia, and then sealed the issue with 209 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. With 881 points in the computerised ranking system, Lara holds a 22-point lead over Hayden, with Australian captain Ricky Ponting third and India’s Sachin Tendulkar fourth. South African pacer Shaun Pollock retains the number one position in the bowlers’ list, ahead of Australian Glenn McGrath and Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.  Lara, who holds both individual batting world records, Test (375) and First-Class (501 not out), is the only West Indies player in the world’s top-10 — batting or bowling — in the PWC Ratings.

RATINGS/POINTS
Batting: 1 Brian Lara 881; 2 Matthew Hayden 859; 3 Rick Ponting 849; 4 Sachin Tendulkar 843; 5 Michael Vaughan 839; 6 Jacques Kallis 820; 7 Adam Gilchrist 814; 8 Inzamam-ul-Haq 793; 9 Rahul Dravis 789; 10 Herschelle Gibbs 778.
Bowling: 1 Shaun Pollock 873; 2 Glenn McGrath 861; 3 Muttiah Muralitharan 856 ; 4 Harbhajan Singh 746; 5  Jason Gillespie 723; 6 Andrew Caddick 705; 7 Makhaya Ntini 692; 8 Shoaib Akhtar 691; 9  Anil Kumble 688 ; 10 Jacques Kallis 682.