Sidebottom?s fairytale progress lifts him to career-high sixth position

Hussey and Ponting resume battle for number one batting spot as Australia prepares to go head to head with the West Indies in three-Test series from Thursday
England fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom continued his fairytale progress in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings when he achieved his career-best position after another outstanding performance in the drawn first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s.

The 30-year-old Yorkshireman took 6-120 in a weather-marred Test and as a result jumped four places to sixth in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

Sidebottom leapfrogged Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka, India captain Anil Kumble, Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Bond of New Zealand. He now has fifth-placed Makhaya Ntini of South Africa firmly in his sights just 53 ratings points ahead.

As Sidebottom 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 five if he puts up another strong performance in the remaining two Tests against the Black Caps. If he achieves that, he will become the first England bowler in the top five since Matthew Hoggard who slipped from those lofty heights last December while on tour in Sri Lanka.

In the last seven months, Sidebottom has maintained an incredible run of consistent performance in which he jumped from 115th position in October 2007 to sixth spot in the latest rankings. Since October, Sidebottom has taken 35 wickets in seven Tests and only six other bowlers, headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn (71 wickets in 11 Tests), have taken more wickets than him in that time.

Sidebottom was not the only England bowler to make progress in the right direction. James Anderson, who took 5-130 in the Test, climbed four places to 33rd spot while Stuart Broad was rewarded for his match effort of 3-139 by rising three places to 62nd position.

While England spinner Monty Panesar had a quiet Test by his high standards when he took 2-86, his opposite number and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori had a productive Test.

The 29-year-old from Auckland took 5-69 in England’s only innings and returned to the top 20 after leapfrogging team-mate James Franklin, Pakistan’s Umar Gul and Irfan Pathan of India.

In the Reliance Mobile Player Rankings for Test batsmen, England captain Michael Vaughan climbed three places to 32nd position after scoring his 18th Test century.

England openers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, who stroked half-centuries while putting on 121 runs for the first wicket, also improved their rankings by one place each and are now ranked 15th and 23rd respectively.

Kevin Pietersen, however, is in danger of losing his place in the top 10 for the first time since 2006 after another disappointing performance. Pietersen scored three and consequently conceded 22 ratings points to see his lead over 11th placed Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke trimmed to only 18 ratings points.

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum has returned to the top 40 after hitting a run-a-ball 97 that included 13 fours and two sixes. McCullum, who was briefly in the top 40 back in 2006, has jumped four places to 38th position.

New Zealand’s all-rounder Jacob Oram achieved his career-best fifth ranking in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders after leaping two places. Oram scored 28 and 101 with the bat and also took 2-45 at Lord’s. He can rise to as high as third if he claims a five-wicket haul or hits a century in the forthcoming Tests in Old Trafford and Trent Bridge.

Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey will resume their battle for the coveted number one spot in Reliance Mobile ICC Rankings for Test batsmen as Australia prepares to go head to head with the West Indies in the three-Test series in Kingston, Jamaica from Thursday.

Hussey benefited from Ponting’s, Jacques Kallis’ and Kumar Sangakkara’s slump in form to claim the top position following South Africa’s tour to Bangladesh earlier this year.

Hussey had entered the home series against India late last year in fifth place while Ponting had started in first place. However, by the time the series ended, Hussey had risen to third place while Ponting had dropped to fourth.

Hussey leads Ponting by 13 ratings points but as Mr Cricket is still qualifying for a full rating (a batsman is eligible for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings), his points tally at the top is likely to continue to rise if his willow continues to yield runs.

In a sharp contrast, Ponting can drop to as low as sixth if he fails to end his run of indifferent form as only 39 ratings points separate the Tasmanian from sixth-placed Matthew Hayden who is one of the five Australians in the top 20 batting list.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the West Indies’ highest-ranked batsman in seventh place while Ramnaresh Sarwan is ranked 22nd and Chris Gayle, who will miss the first Test due to injury, is in 27th position.

Australia’s best bowlers in action in the series will be Stuart Clark and Brett Lee who are in third and fourth respectively in the Reliance Mobile ICC Rankings for Test bowlers while in Corey Collymore’s absence Jerome Taylor in 25th place is the highest-ranked West Indies bowler. Dwayne Bravo (34th), Fidel Edwards (36th) and Daren Powell (44th) are the other home team bowlers in the top 50.

If Australia sweeps the series, it will earn one ratings point in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship while West Indies will drop to 76 ratings points. However, if Australia lost all three Tests, it would concede 10 ratings points while the West Indies would go up by the same amount.

West Indies v Australia Test Series

22-26 May – First Test, Kingston, Jamaica

30 May-3 June – Second Test, Antigua

12-16 June – Third Test, Bridgetown, Barbados

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 13 May, prior to the start of England – New Zealand and West Indies – Australia Test series)

(Developed by David Kendix)

Note: Zimbabwe has a rating of 12 but has not played sufficient number of Test matches over the new rating period to be included on the main table. Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table is updated at the end of every series.

For more information go to http://www.icc-cricket.com/