tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9978965625470508802024-02-20T19:16:19.262-08:00MRF Tyres ICC RankingsICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-73847766527444120992011-03-31T14:26:00.000-07:002011-03-31T14:27:29.596-07:00Muttiah Muralidaran - A statistical tributeThe final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is a fitting setting for Muttiah Muralidaran to take his leave of the international cricket stage. Having taken a total of 1347 wickets in all international cricket so far, he will be hoping to put even more daylight between himself and the chasing pack. Second-placed Shane Warne is the only other player with more than a thousand, and the leading other Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-42141713499024373682011-02-17T04:09:00.000-08:002011-02-17T04:10:19.332-08:00A tribute to the Number OnesTell anyone who are the number one rated batsman, bowler and all-rounder in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI cricket going into ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and you may receive some inquisitive looks in return. However, on closer examination, the three players have earned their right to call themselves the current form players as the cricketing world meets on the subcontinent. SouthBenedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-16837728792663355962011-02-02T03:44:00.000-08:002011-02-02T04:31:34.411-08:00The Year of the RabbitThe main focus of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings is to determine who the peak performers in world cricket are, be they in Test cricket or in the One Day format of the game. However, as we enter the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, we examine the other end of the scale – the true ‘rabbits’ with the bat – those batsmen who can often be found lurking at number eleven praying they are not Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-82994202420367157102010-12-31T19:58:00.001-08:002010-12-31T19:58:53.752-08:002010 - a Ratings Year in ReviewAs England retain the Ashes and 2010 moves into 2011 it gives us the opportunity to have a look back at the last year in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings to see who the biggest achievers have been over the last twelve months of international cricket.For the second successive year, no batsmen managed to break the elusive 900 point barrier. Back in 2008 five different batsmen managed to Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-73676725957816592492010-11-11T09:02:00.001-08:002010-11-11T09:16:18.165-08:00A unique timeAt first glance, there doesn’t appear to be anything too unusual about the current Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. Sachin Tendulkar is at the top followed just a point behind by Kumar Sangakkara. The old favourites of Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and VVS Laxman are also currently riding high in the batting charts.However, at closer glance, one thing does stand out. There Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-25301251996969586632010-10-14T14:53:00.000-07:002010-10-14T14:54:06.710-07:00Tendulkar's journey to pole positionSachin Tendulkar debuted as a 16-year-old in November 1989 and recently became just the fifth player to participate in Test cricket in five different decades. In his second Test he became the youngest batsman to make a Test half-century and a legend was born. He narrow missed becoming the youngest Test centurion when he fell for 88 against New Zealand at Napier in early 1990 but came of age laterBenedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-37834662812842160272010-10-13T00:59:00.001-07:002010-10-13T01:02:27.906-07:00The greatest ICC Cricket World Cup innings of all time24 years ago at Karachi, Viv Richards put the Sri Lankan bowlers to the sword with an incredible innings of 181 from just 125 deliveries which powered the West Indies to a total of 360-4 and victory by 191 runs. Without doubt, this ranks as one of the greatest innings ever played in any ICC Cricket World Cup, but how does the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings computer see it? Here is a Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-29261147820648580952010-09-27T05:24:00.001-07:002010-09-27T05:24:37.002-07:00How ‘bout them spinnersA casual glance at the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers shows an unusual top of the table. The top four bowlers are all spinners and three of them – Daniel Vettori, Shakib al Hasan and Ray Price – are left-arm spinners. Graeme Swann – up into third place after his recent successes in England’s ODI series with Pakistan – is the only off-spinner among them. Conversely, a Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-79048867695269362972010-09-09T00:24:00.001-07:002010-09-09T00:24:41.510-07:00The new Number OneAB de Villiers originally started in international cricket as a wicket-keeping replacement for Mark Boucher, but he had such a successful start to his Test career that he is still the only South African to reach 1,000 Test runs within a year of making his Test debut. By that time he was knocking on the door of the world’s top twenty in the longer format of the game, but he subsequently suffered Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-26657495886624800222010-08-13T01:28:00.000-07:002010-08-13T01:29:00.215-07:00Friday the thirteenth and all thatCricket is littered with superstitions – from the late umpire David Shepherd’s refusal to keep both feet on the ground when the score reached a multiple of 111 to the Australian fear of the number 87. In honour of this inauspicious date, here are some superstitious cricketers and how they feared in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings.Jack Russell was England’s first-choice wicket-keeper for Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-20825577351648816042010-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:002010-08-03T14:32:31.712-07:00When Irish eyes are smilingEoin Morgan’s maiden Test century was one of the highlights of England’s first Test victory over Pakistan at Trent Bridge. His innings of 130 helped lift England from 118-4 to a total of 354 and an eventual 354-run triumph.Morgan first made his name for Ireland and reached a career best of 390 points in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen in April 2009, shortly before Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-18620987181138941132010-07-18T06:50:00.001-07:002010-07-18T06:50:22.871-07:00Teenage KicksOne of the bright spots for Pakistan in their first Test defeat to Australia at Lord’s was the bowling of 18-year-ol left-arm paceman Mohammad Amir. He took four wickets in Australia’s first innings taking him to 25 in his nine-Test career to date. Having only turned eighteen as recently as April, he has plenty of time to try to break Daniel Vettori’s record of 54 Test wickets taken as a Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-15231854747629328132010-05-05T00:05:00.001-07:002010-05-05T00:05:22.564-07:00Brett Lee – a Test career in reviewA notable absentee from the Australian team participating in the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean is Brett Lee. The spearhead of the attack following the retirement of Glenn McGrath after ICC World Cup 2007, he was forced to miss the competition due to an arm injury, a sad echo of the ankle trouble which forced him to miss the longer format of the competition when it was hosted in the Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-59096767216542560202010-04-01T02:53:00.000-07:002010-04-01T02:54:19.662-07:00Johnson's QuestMitchell Johnson is a relative rarity among world bowlers – in that he bowls left-arm fast. Last year we examined the increasing percentage of left-handed batsmen in world cricket since the Second World War, but there has not been a similar increase in left-handed bowlers over the same time period. However, currently there are two leftie pacemen in the higher echelons of the Reliance Mobile ICCBenedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-46011843561846921912010-03-26T13:46:00.001-07:002010-03-26T13:46:38.687-07:00The best Test team of the 2000sWe’ve tackled the batsmen and bowlers who dominated the first decade of the new Millennium, but what about the teams? Statistically, Australia owned the period, but which line-up of players comprised their best-ever line-up and how do the South African and Indian powerhouses stack up in comparison? Using the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings we can try to discover which the finest team was inBenedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-27008562459454039932010-03-18T04:11:00.001-07:002010-03-18T04:11:53.614-07:00Swann on SongThanks to his ten wickets in the first Test with Bangladesh at Chittagong, England’s off-spinner has risen to the giddy heights of second in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. It has been mentioned widely in the press that he became the first English offie with a ten-wicket match haul since Jim Laker took his nineteen against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956, but how doesBenedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-70333366352145092952010-03-07T04:31:00.000-08:002010-03-07T04:32:37.659-08:00The leading bowlers in world cricketSo, if Bradman is the number one batsman, who is the number one bowler using this criteria? The answer may surprise a few, but that man is Glenn McGrath. His lead is not as clear-cut as Bradman's but it is significant enough over second placed Curtly Ambrose.Over his 124 Tests, McGrath had an average Rating of 791 points - an incredible achievement given that his career spanned over thirteen Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-11720870343289792392010-02-23T02:59:00.000-08:002010-02-23T04:31:50.038-08:00Tests are to Bradman as ODIs are to…………It is widely acknowledged that Sir Donald Bradman was the greatest batsman ever to play the game. As if a first-class batting average of 95.14 and a Test average of 99.94 weren’t enough, he scored 29 centuries in only 52 Tests and Australia won 30 of those matches. Even when he was dismissed for a duck in his final Test innings, it became the most famous duck in Test history. The Reliance Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-91542414760798428802010-02-08T08:54:00.000-08:002010-02-08T08:55:25.290-08:00The four decadersSachin Tendulkar joined an elite group of Test players when he took the field against Bangladesh last month. He became just the fifth person to play Test cricket in four different decades having made his debut as a sixteen-year-old against Pakistan at Karachi in November 1989. Let’s have a look at the players he emulated and how they performed in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings.The Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-7377139214797755102010-01-30T01:16:00.000-08:002010-01-30T01:19:57.711-08:00Bangladesh - ten years onIt was back in 2000 when Bangladesh first took the field in Test cricket, playing India in Dhaka. At the start, things went well: captain Aminul Islam won the toss and proceeded to score a nine-hour 145 helping his team to a total of 400. After three days of play India were 366-7 in response, but by the end of the following day it was all over, with the home team capitulating to just 91 all out Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-15962084221258170342010-01-04T00:09:00.000-08:002010-01-04T00:13:11.321-08:00That was the decade that wasThe 2000s was the busiest decade ever in international cricket with 464 Test Matches, 1405 One Day Internationals and 414 Women’s One Day Internationals played. In the case of the last two, the decade pretty much doubled the previous number of matches in the history of the two genres. Scarcely a week went by without some kind of competitive international cricket around the world.It seems a longBenedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-75088344856934490792010-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:002010-01-01T20:49:30.402-08:002009 - a Ratings year in reviewAs we move out of 2009, let’s look back on the Ratings year and discover who were the biggest movers and shakers over the course of the twelve months of international cricket just completed.In the Test arena, not a single batsman managed to break the elusive 900 point barrier. This is a far cry from 2008 when five different batsmen achieved the feat. It was very much chop and change in the top Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-60613442835944542622009-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:002009-12-27T08:57:12.101-08:00Kallis v Sobers?As the Test series between South Africa and England continues, comparisons have been drawn between the home team’s all-rounder Jacques Kallis and arguably the greatest-ever in that field – Sir Garfield Sobers. As Kallis moves towards the end of his career, what do the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings say about him and how he compares to the West Indian legend? As Sobers only played one ODI (Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-54410106205188108082009-12-13T03:07:00.001-08:002009-12-13T03:07:36.283-08:00Spinning it on the HighveldAlmost un-noticed, Paul Harris has sneaked his way into the world’s top ten in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. Helped by his match figures of nine for 161 against Australia at Cape Town this March, he now sits pretty on 669 points – the highest-rated left-arm spinner in the world. He was even higher in May of this year – peaking at seventh place before the resurgence Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-84729396936537070152009-12-02T23:47:00.000-08:002009-12-02T23:49:48.163-08:00Keeping it realA total of 241 men have taken the gloves in Test Match cricket and 203 in One Day International cricket. Historically it has always proved very difficult to combine both jobs of batting well and keeping wicket. However, a number of players have bucked the trend in these forms of the game and here we pay tribute to them.The rapid onset of the one-day game in the recent years has persuaded Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.com