International Cricket Council

The latest International Cricket Council World Bowling Ratings list has Muttiah Muralitharan at number one and Dale Steyn moving closer to the number one spot after a very good 2008 for the South African quick.

Being out with injury you would expect both Stuart Clark and Brett Lee to drop out of the top ten in the coming months, as Mitchell Johnson continues his climb up the rankings.

Sadly, there are no West Indian quicks in the top ten.

The top 10 are:

1. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 897

2. Dale Steyn (South Africa) 858

3. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 796

4. Stuart Clark (Australia) 790

5. Mitchell Johnson (Australia) 741

6. Ryan Sidebottom (England) 723

7. Harbhajan Singh (India) 686

8. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) 684

9. Brett Lee (Australia) 680

10. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 676

BELOW: Footage of Muttiah Muralitharan taking 9 for 65 against England at The Oval in 1998.

BELOW: Footage of Muttiah Muralitharan getting his 65^th (6 for 26) 5 wickets in an innings against India in 2008.

The latest International Cricket Council World Batting Ratings list has West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the top, which quite ironic given the current status (7^th out of 9 test playing teams) of the once great West Indian cricket team. However, Chanderpaul has been a standout batsman for the Windies for quite some time and is most certainly one of cricket’s most reliable batsmen.

Sliding just out of the top ten at 11 is ‘Mr Cricket’ or Michael Hussey (753). The once reliable Hussey has been in something of a form slump just lately and this has also seen his batting average (61.56) come down to earth and be more representative of Hussey’s true batting potential. Matthew Hayden’s (678) fall has continued and he now rests at number 18 in the ratings. Sachin Tendulkar (683) is at 16 with V. V. S. Laxman.

The top 10 are:

1. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) 900

2. Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) 880

2. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 880

4. Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka) 854

5. Kevin Pietersen (England) 832

6. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 827

7. Graeme Smith (South Africa) 810

8. Younus Khan (Pakistan) 799

9. Michael Clarke (Australia) 772

10. Gautum Gambhir (India) 771

BELOW: Footage of Shivnarine Chanderpaul reaching 100 in the 3^rd test against England at Old Trafford on the 11^th June 2007.