Shane Bond has again made progress in the ICC’s Player Rankings after impressive performances for the BLACKCAPS.
Seven wickets against the West Indies in the first Test in Auckland, including a decisive five for 69 in the final innings, have catapulted him up the Test bowlers ladder to joint fifth, alongside South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini.
Bond moves up seven places, has his best-ever haul of rating points and, coupled with his third place in the ODI listings, he appears to be truly established as one of the leading bowlers in the world.
Bond has been joined in the Test list’s top 20 by team-mate Daniel Vettori, who has moved up five places to 17th and has also consolidated his fifth position in the all-rounder’s list.
Chris Martin holds firm at 24th spot among the bowlers , while Nathan Astle, whose two top-order wickets started the BLACKCAPS surge to victory in the Test, now lies in 49th position, up three places.
Stephen Fleming remains the BLACKCAPS highest-placed Test batsmen, in 22nd position, but Scott Styris has moved up five spots to 37th following his first innings hundred.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting’s 164-run contribution at the Wanderers was not enough to secure his side victory in the record-breaking decisive ODI match against South Africa but it did push him to a new record points tally at the top of the LG ICC ODI batting rankings.
Herschelle Gibbs’ astonishing 175-run innings in the same match helped him improve from 22nd to 11th.
The series victory means that South Africa are likely to be the second-seeded side in the ICC Champions Trophy this October. This will ensure they avoid Australia in the group phase of the event in India.
LG ICC ODI Championship
1 Australia 133
2 South Africa 118
3 New Zealand 113
4 India 113
5 Pakistan 112
6 England 108
7 Sri Lanka 107
8 West Indies 89
9 Zimbabwe 42
10 Bangladesh 17
* 1) India, as hosts, will automatically qualify for the second stage of next year’s ICC Champions Trophy even if they are outside the top six of the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April 2006. If they are outside that top six then the sixth-placed side in the table will take part in the preliminary round. 2) Kenya has not yet played sufficient matches in the qualification period to be ranked on the official table.
LG ICC Test Championship
1 Australia 129
2 England 113
3 India 111
4 Pakistan 108
5 New Zealand 100
6 South Africa 99
7 Sri Lanka 97
8 West Indies 73
9 Zimbabwe 27
10 Bangladesh 4
