Murali edges closer to the all-time top following nine-wicket haul by ICC Media Release

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Scorecard:	Sri Lanka v Bangladesh
Player:	M Muralitharan, DPMD Jayawardene, MG Vandort, WPUJC Vaas, TM Dilshan, Imran Khan, GA Lohmann, SF Barnes, HAPW Jayawardene, KC Sangakkara, MEK Hussey, RT Ponting, KP Pietersen, Mohammad Yousuf, Habibul Bashar, Rajin Saleh, Shahriar Nafees, SM Pollock, A Flintoff, JH Kallis
Event:	Bangladesh in Sri Lanka 2007

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DateLine: 29th June 2007

 

Sri Lankan spinner enjoying highest rating of his career; gains for Jayawardena, Vandort, Vaas and Dilshan in LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen

 

Sri Lanka ’s Muttiah Muralidaran has reached his best-ever rating in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers following yet another top performance in Colombo against Bangladesh . The spin genius from Kandy took nine wickets in the match, bringing him to 683 Test scalps overall and pushing him up to 916 rating points from 913, his highest since making his debut back in 1992.

 

As the only bowler currently enjoying in excess of 900 rating points, Muralidaran is way out in front at the top of the current rankings and he can lso make his mark on history if he continues to dominate batsmen the way he does.

 

He sits fourth in the all-time bowling rankings with his sights now set firmly on the three names above him, Imran Khan of Pakistan (922 points), England’s George Lohmann (931) and Sydney Barnes (932).

 

Following the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Colombo, there were no changes in the order of the top 20 in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers with everyone still chasing Muralidaran.

 

Further down, Lasith Malinga moved up one spot to 29th position and is now at his highest Test rating of his career to date. Sri Lanka team-mate Dilhara Fernando is also close to his best having moved back into the top 30 in the ladder.

 

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s batsmen are also moving up the LG ICC Test Player Rankings and putting pressure on the very best.

 

Following the first Test, Mahela Jayawardena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Michael Vandort and Chaminda Vaas all made gains following good personal performances.

 

Prasanna gained 11 places to 93rd spot, Vandort moved up nine places to 77th position and Vaas rose four spots to 67th after their centuries but the other gains were more modest given the context of the game.

 

Captain Jayawardena is up one place to 13th position overall while Dilshan also gained one position and now lies 28th. It was not such good news for Kumar Sangakkara who dropped a place to fifth position following a relatively disappointing match with the bat for the 29-year-old.

 

Sangakkara is overtaken by Australia’s Mike Hussey into fourth while the list is still headed by Hussey’s skipper Ricky Ponting with Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan second and England’s Kevin Pietersen in third spot.

 

Veteran Bangladesh batsman Habibul Bashar slipped five places to 40th in the rankings while the news was better for his team-mates, Rajin Saleh and Shahriar Nafees, who gained three places and four places and currently occupy 48th and 59th positions, respectively.

 

Sri Lanka won the match by an innings and 234 runs and lead the series 1-0 with two matches remaining.

 

There are no changes in the top five of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounder with Jacques Kallis of South Africa still leading the way from England’s Andrew Flintoff and another South African, Shaun Pollock.

 

Remaining fixtures in the series:

 

3-7 July – Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Colombo

 

11-15 July – Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Kandy

 

 

Get an idea of Muralidaran’s place in history by checking out the all-time Test bowling rankings at http://www.lgiccrankings.com/test/bowling/all-time-ranking.php

 

 

LG ICC Test Rankings (as of 29 June 2007, following first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh )

 

Batsmen

 

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Ranking

 

1 Ricky Ponting Aus 936 59.29 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006

 

2 Mhd Yousuf Pak 915 56.00 933 v WI at Karachi 2006

 

3 Kevin Pietersen Eng 862 52.10 909 v WI at Leeds 2007

 

4 Mike Hussey Aus 842* 79.85 842 v Eng at Sydney 2007

 

5 K.C.Sangakkara SL 835 50.19 857 v NZ at Wellington 2006

 

6 Matthew Hayden Aus 828 53.00 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002

 

7 Jacques Kallis SA 820 55.09 896 v Eng at Cape Town 2005

 

8 Rahul Dravid Ind 801 57.46 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005

 

9 Younis Khan Pak 789 48.21 856 v Eng at Leeds 2006

 

10 S.Chanderpaul WI 762 46.63 811 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2005

 

11 Ashwell Prince SA 755 42.85 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007

 

12 Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 735 50.07 870 v Eng at Lahore 2005

 

13 M.Jayawardena SL 720 48.97 836 v Eng at Birmingham 2002

 

14 P.D.Collingwood Eng 712 45.47 730 v Aus at Adelaide 2006

 

15 Stephen Fleming NZ 674 39.64 702 v Ban at Chittagong 2004

 

16= S.R.Tendulkar Ind 672 55.44 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002

 

Graeme Smith SA 672 47.08 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004

 

18 Adam Gilchrist Aus 662 48.66 874 v SA at Cape Town 2002

 

19 Michael Clarke Aus 657 42.00 692 v Eng at Perth 2006

 

20 Alastair Cook Eng 653* 46.29 689 v WI at Manchester 2007

 

Bowlers

 

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Ranking

 

1 M.Muralidaran SL 916 21.59 916 v Ban at Colombo (SSC) 2007

 

2 Makhaya Ntini SA 856 27.48 863 v Ind at Durban 2006

 

3= Anil Kumble Ind 730 28.59 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994

 

Shaun Pollock SA 730 23.19 909 v Eng at Johannesburg 1999

 

5 Shane Bond NZ 722* 22.10 778 v WI at Auckland 2006

 

6= M’thew Hoggard Eng 721 30.03 795 v SL at Birmingham 2006

 

Monty Panesar Eng 721* 28.40 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007

 

8 Stuart Clark Aus 720* 17.80 720 v Eng at Sydney 2007

 

9 Mohammad Asif Pak 710* 20.12 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007

 

10 Shoaib Akhtar Pak 698 25.29 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003

 

11 Andrew Flintoff Eng 680 32.02 810 v Pak at Multan 2005

 

12 Corey Collymore WI 673* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007

 

13 Chaminda Vaas SL 667 29.39 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005

 

14 Danish Kaneria Pak 662 32.36 723 v Eng at Multan 2005

 

15 Brett Lee Aus 644 31.60 658 v WI at Perth 2000

 

16 James Franklin NZ 637* 28.19 679 v SL at Christchurch 2006

 

17 Irfan Pathan Ind 618* 30.79 761 v SL at Delhi 2005

 

18 Umar Gul Pak 608* 30.62 627 v WI at Karachi 2006

 

19 Daniel Vettori NZ 598 34.28 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000

 

20 Stuart MacGill Aus 593 27.20 728 v WI at Kingston 1999

 

All-rounders

 

Rank Player Team Points HS Ranking

 

1 Jacques Kallis SA 462 616 v Pak at Durban 2002

 

2 Andrew Flintoff Eng 384 501 v Pak at Multan 2005

 

3 Shaun Pollock SA 356 490 v Eng at The Oval 2003

 

4 Daniel Vettori NZ 329 329 v SL at Wellington 2006

 

5 Chaminda Vaas SL 268 281 v Ind at Chennai 2005

 

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

 

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