Clarke scales new heights in Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings
Australia vice-captain breaks into top five; Hashim Amla and Simon Katich join top 20 for first time; Brett Lee drops to lowest ranking since January 2007
Australia’s Michael Clarke has risen further in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and has broken into the top five for the first time in his career.
The 27-year-old right-handed batsman has jumped four places to fifth after managing scores of 138 and 41 against South Africa in Sydney to help seal victory over the Proteas in the final Test of the three-match series.
Also on the rise, South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Simon Katich of Australia have joined the top 20 for the first time in their careers.
Amla has climbed four places to 19th position after registering two half-centuries in the match while Katich shares 20th spot with West Indies captain Chris Gayle after scores of 47 and 61.
Meanwhile, rival captains, Graeme Smith of South Africa and Australia’s Ricky Ponting, have failed to retain their places.
Smith has dropped two places in the rankings to ninth, despite bravely coming out to bat at number 11 for his side in the second innings of the Sydney Test after breaking his left hand in the first innings of the game while Ponting has slipped one place to seventh after scores of 0 and 53.
Higher up the table Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara has dropped from second to third after managing a total of 59 runs against Bangladesh in his side’s victory in Chittagong.
Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardena has dropped two places from fourth to sixth after a couple of disappointing innings with the bat.
The table is still headed by the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Outside of the top 20, Sangakkara and Jayawardena’s team-mate Tillakaratne Dilshan has gained six places in the rankings to 25th position after scoring heavily in both innings. The 32-year-old scored 162 in the first innings and 143 in the second and he appears to be closing in on his previous best ranking which was 23rd position back in March 2006.
Also gaining ranking places after the Bangladesh series is the host’s wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim who has reached his best ranking to date in 57th place.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran still tops the table followed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn while those immediately below them make moves.
South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini has dropped two places to fifth in the rankings after ending up with disappointing match figures in Sydney of 1-168. Australia’s Mitchell Johnson jumps over Ntini to take fourth place in the rankings after collecting figures of 4-118.
However, Australia’s Brett Lee has dropped to 10th position, his lowest ranking since January 2007, after being forced to withdraw from the final Test with an ankle injury. As a player loses one per cent of his rating for missing every match, it is his worst ranking since he held 15th place in January of 2007 after Australia had faced England in Sydney.
There is mixed news for Australia’s young guns Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz. While Siddle, the 24-year-old fast bowler, has rocketed 18 places to 49th after match figures of 8-113, off-spinner Hauritz has dropped 10 places to 64th after managing to claim just one wicket for 115 runs.
Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas has gained three places to go seventh in the table after recording figures of 3-37 against Bangladesh in the final Test match in Chittagong. Vaas’s rise means the three players ahead of him – Harbhajan Singh of India, Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar and Lee – have slipped one place each.
Further down the table, Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis has jumped eight places and shares 23rd position with Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul after claiming 7-128 against Bangladesh. It is the 23-year-old’s best rating of his career so far as he continues to impress on the international stage.
As Mendis is still qualifying for a full rating (a bowler is eligible for a full rating once he reaches 100 Test wickets), he has a good chance of breaking in the top 20 if he puts up another strong performance when he next represents Sri Lanka in the Test match arena.
South Africa’s Jacques Kallis still leads the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders followed by New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori in second position. Vaas’s good performance has pushed him above Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies into fourth position on his own after the two had been deadlocked on the same number of ratings points.
For more information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.iccreliancerankings.com.