Lara reclaims top spot in Test ratings
Guyana Chronicle
January 8, 2004
LONDON, England (Reuters) - West Indies captain Brian Lara, who became the fastest player to reach 9 000 runs in Test cricket against South Africa on Sunday, has reclaimed top spot in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Test ratings.
Lara, who struck a double century, a century and two fifties in the first three Tests against South Africa, dislodges Australia's Ricky Ponting at the head of the standings.
Ponting slips to second, with India's Rahul Dravid and another Australian, Matthew Hayden, in third and fourth place respectively.
BATSMEN
Player Country Points Average
1. Brian Lara West Indies 912 52.69
2. Ricky Ponting Australia 891 55.97
3. Rahul Dravid India 884 57.42
4. Matthew Hayden Australia 881 58.28
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan 811 49.85
6. Jacques Kallis South Africa 808 52.00
7. Sachin Tendulkar India 783 57.19
8. Herschelle Gibbs South Africa 781 47.40
9. Mark Richardson New Zealand 775 49.02 10. Vangipurappu Laxman India 756 47.39
BOWLERS
1. Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka 908 22.94
2. Shoaib Akhtar Pakistan 861 23.40
3. Shaun Pollock South Africa 860 21.11
4. Glenn McGrath Australia 798 21.71
5. Jason Gillespie Australia 751 25.24
6. Anil Kumble India 748 28.31
7. Makhaya Ntini South Africa 728 29.36
8. Daryl Tuffey New Zealand 721 27.32
9. Harbhajan Singh India 655 28.47
10. Chaminda Vaas Sri Lanka 629 30.12