Lara bumped from top spot

LONDON: West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara was replaced as the world’s number one batsman yesterday by Australian Matthew Hayden, who broke his world record on Friday.

Hayden’s world record score of 380 against Zimbabwe on Friday, erased Lara’s 375 — against England in 1994 — as the best ever individual Test score and the latest Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) ratings released yesterday reflected the Australian’s achievement. Hayden’s lead is narrow, and he will need a decent score in the Second Test to preserve his top position. Lara is second, with India’s Rahul Dravid third, followed by Australian Adam Gilchrist and Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan, with India’s Sachin Tendulkar lying sixth. It is not Hayden’s first appearance at the head of the rankings that occurred a year ago against Pakistan. He had not been out of the top three since then. But the world record knock in Perth does not displace Lara from the ranking as the scorer of the highest-rated innings.

That is still regarded as the Trinidadian’s majestic 213 at Sabina Park, Kingston, in 1999 that propelled the West Indies to a 10-wicket win over Australia in the second Test of that Cable and  Wireless series. VVS Laxman’s 281 at Kolkata in 2001, is also ahead of Hayden as both were scored against strong Australian attacks. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, at 20th in the world, and Ramnaresh Sarwan (26th) are the only other West Indies batsmen in the world’s top 30. South African pacer Shaun Pollock remains number one on the PwC world bowlers’ list, ahead of Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, and Glenn McGrath of Australia. Mervyn Dillon (14th), Jermaine Lawson (22nd), and Corey Collymore (29th) are the only West Indies players in the bowlers’ top-30.

PwC’s world top-ten batsmen:
1 Matthew Hayden (AUS); 2 Brian Lara (WI); 3 Rahul Dravid (IND); 4 Adam Gilchrist (AUS); 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK); 6 Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 6 Ricky Ponting (AUS); 8 Marcus Trescothick (ENG); 9 Jacques Kallis (SA); 10 Herschelle Gibbs (SA); 20  Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 26  Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI).

PwC’s world top-ten bowlers:
1 Shaun Pollock (SA); 2 Muttiah Muralitharan (SL); 3 Glenn McGrath (AUS); 4 Jason Gillespie (AUS); 5 Shoaib Akhtar (PAK); 6 Harbhajan Singh (IND); 7 Jacques Kallis (SA); 8 Anil Kumble (IND); 9 Stuart MacGill (AUS); 10 Makhaya Ntini (SA); 14  Mervyn Dillon (WI); 22  Jermaine Lawson (WI); 29  Corey Collymore (WI).