Sangakkara loses grip on top spot while Jayawardena and Cook make upward progress in LG ICC Player Rankings

Vaas and Harmison head in the right direction in bowlers’ rankings but Hoggard, Panesar and Sidebottom slip

Australia’s Ricky Ponting regained sole possession of the coveted top slot of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara dropped two places to third position despite his team’s 1-0 victory over England last week.

Sangakkara had snatched the pole position from Ponting after the first Test in Kandy following knocks of 92 and 152. However, after a disappointing second Test in Colombo where he scored just one run, he slipped down level with the Australia captain.

In the third and final Test in Galle, Sangakkara scored 46 in the first innings and did not get a second opportunity in the match. His effort was not enough to help him hold on to the top spot and consequently dropped to third position, two ratings points behind South Africa’s Jacques Kallis.

While just three ratings points separating the top three, Sangakkara will not have an opportunity to attack the top position until March next year when Sri Lanka goes head-to-head with the West Indies in the Caribbean in a two-Test series.

In contrast, Ponting and Kallis, who are separated by just one ratings point, will continue their battle for the top position in their home series against India and the West Indies, starting in Melbourne and Port Elizabeth from 26 December.

But if both those players fail to live up to their own high standards, Sangakkara could find himself in top position after all.

Sangakkara’s team-mate Mahela Jayawardena has gained another three positions in the latest rankings and moves ahead of England’s Kevin Pietersen, Australia’s Matthew Hayden and Pakistan’s Yunus Khan in sixth place following a superb 213 not out in Galle that made him his country’s leading century-maker with 21 Test tons.

Jayawardena had started the series in 12th position and improved six spots, thanks to his aggregate of 474 runs which earned him the player of the series award.

Tillekeratne Dilshan is the other Sri Lanka batsman besides Jayawardena to make upward progress. Dilshan, who scored 84 in his comeback Test, lifts 10 places to 30th spot.

England may have lost the series but opener Alaister Cook earned some personal consolation when he climbed five places to 13th position after his match-saving 113 in Galle.

England’s other three batsmen in the top 20 – Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell – all lost grounds in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Pietersen dropped one place to seventh while Collingwood and Bell slipped two places each to 17th and 19th respectively. Captain Michael Vaughan, who scored 215 runs in the series, slipped one place to 25th position.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Sri Lanka’s fast bowler Chaminda Vaas leapfrogged India’s Zaheer Khan and England’s injured pacer Andrew Flintoff in 12th position.

With 11 wickets, Vaas was the second leading wicket-taker in the series behind magician spinner Muthiah Muralidaran who extended his lead over South Africa’s second-placed Makhaya Ntini after his 19 wickets against England.

England fast bowlers Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom, and spinner Monty Panesar slipped in the bowlers rankings despite gutsy efforts in Galle.

Hoggard, who took seven wickets in the series, dropped three places behind New Zealand’s Shane Bond and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock in ninth position while Panesar, who was his team’s most successful bowler with eight wickets, slipped two places to share the 18th spot with Kallis and New Zealand’s Chris Martin.

Sidebottom dropped three spots and finished in 42nd place after his series effort of five wickets.

However, there was good news for England when Steve Harmison climbed three places to 21st position after taking six wickets in the series.

There was no change in the top five of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with Kallis still the man to catch at the top.

For more information on the LG ICC Player Rankings go to http://www.lgiccrankings.com/