Player of the Series Brett Lee achieves highest rating of his career
Pacer retains fourth place in LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers; Batsmen Clarke, Tendulkar and Sehwag make strides; Kumble into top 10 all-rounders
Australia pace bowler Brett Lee has achieved the highest rating of his career to date in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers following the Test series against India and is now in fourth position, fast closing on those bowlers ahead of him.
Lee, who was named the Man of the Series, played a big role in securing a 2-1 series win for Australia, taking 24 wickets at an average of 22.58. That effort has continued his rise and he now sits on 795 ratings points, poised to become the fourth bowler in the world currently beyond the magic 800-point mark.
It is all part of a steady progress for the 31-year-old New South Welshman over the past year or so. He is ahead of South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini and now has Ntini’s team-mate Dale Steyn and Australia’s Stuart Clark in his sights. It is interesting to note that 12 months ago Lee was placed in 15th position.
Clark has exchanged places again with Steyn after the drawn Adelaide Test when he failed to take a wicket. It remains very close between them, though, with just three ratings points separating Steyn in second spot and third-placed Clark. And now they have Lee breathing down their necks.
However, he still has a long way to go before he catches Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran, whose remarkable run at the top continues without, it seems, any wavering in form from the record-breaking off-spinner.
Meanwhile, Australia’s young gun Mitchell Johnson has moved up nine places to 42nd in the list after taking six wickets in the fourth Test, including a four-wicket haul in the first innings. His match figures of 6-159 were his best effort so far in Tests and he has now overtaken the likes of Daren Powell of the West Indies, Kyle Mills of New Zealand and England’s Ryan Sidebottom to break into the top 50 for the first time.
In the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, Michael Clarke of Australia and India’s Sachin Tendulkar have both gained one place in the top 20 and now sit on 11th and 12th positions, respectively.
Clarke scored 118 in Adelaide, his sixth Test century, while Tendulkar excelled in the first innings, stroking a masterful 153, registering his 39th hundred in Test matches. Tendulkar is currently enjoying his highest Test ranking for two years.
Andrew Symonds fell three places and out of the top 20 to 21st position after a relatively disappointing match with the bat for the Queenslander.
Gaining on him is Virender Sehwag of India, whose 63 and 151 at Adelaide has pushed him up eight places to 24th place in the rankings.
The batting rankings are still headed by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, ahead of South Africa’s Jacques Kallis in second place and Michael Hussey of Australia in third.
Hussey steadily progressed through the rankings during the series with India and is now poised to take top spot if he continues his good form. That said, along with his Australia team-mates he will now take a break from Test cricket so as to concentrate on the one-day form of the game as the tri-series with India and Sri Lanka is very much on the horizon.
Meanwhile, his captain Ricky Ponting retains fourth spot and is moving in the right direction again having returned to form with a beautifully constructed century.
India captain Anil Kumble has progressed four places up the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders and is now in seventh position, enjoying the highest rating of his career to date. Kumble took only one wicket in Australia’s first innings but hit 87 and 9 not out in the match to put pressure on the top five in the all-rounders’ list.
That means, with Irfan Pathan currently occupying sixth place, India can boast two Test all-rounders in the top seven.
Kallis still heads the rankings, followed by Andrew Flintoff of England in second and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in third place.
For more information on the LG ICC Player Rankings go to http://www.lgiccrankings.com/
