tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9978965625470508802011-09-28T22:23:50.799-07:00ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comBlogger641100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-73847766527444120992011-03-31T14:26:00.000-07:002011-03-31T14:27:29.596-07:00

The 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-42141713499024373682011-02-17T04:09:00.000-08:002011-02-17T04:10:19.332-08:00

Tell 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. South

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-16837728792663355962011-02-02T03:44:00.000-08:002011-02-02T04:31:34.411-08:00

The 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-82994202420367157102010-12-31T19:58:00.001-08:002010-12-31T19:58:53.752-08:00

As 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-73676725957816592492010-11-11T09:02:00.001-08:002010-11-11T09:16:18.165-08:00

At 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-25301251996969586632010-10-14T14:53:00.000-07:002010-10-14T14:54:06.710-07:00

Sachin 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 later

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-37834662812842160272010-10-13T00:59:00.001-07:002010-10-13T01:02:27.906-07:00

24 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-29261147820648580952010-09-27T05:24:00.001-07:002010-09-27T05:24:37.002-07:00

A 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-79048867695269362972010-09-09T00:24:00.001-07:002010-09-09T00:24:41.510-07:00

AB 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-26657495886624800222010-08-13T01:28:00.000-07:002010-08-13T01:29:00.215-07:00

Cricket 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-20825577351648816042010-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:002010-08-03T14:32:31.712-07:00

Eoin 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-18620987181138941132010-07-18T06:50:00.001-07:002010-07-18T06:50:22.871-07:00

One 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-15231854747629328132010-05-05T00:05:00.001-07:002010-05-05T00:05:22.564-07:00

A 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-59096767216542560202010-04-01T02:53:00.000-07:002010-04-01T02:54:19.662-07:00

Mitchell 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 ICC

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-46011843561846921912010-03-26T13:46:00.001-07:002010-03-26T13:46:38.687-07:00

We’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 in

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-27008562459454039932010-03-18T04:11:00.001-07:002010-03-18T04:11:53.614-07:00

Thanks 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 does

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-70333366352145092952010-03-07T04:31:00.000-08:002010-03-07T04:32:37.659-08:00

So, 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-11720870343289792392010-02-23T02:59:00.000-08:002010-02-23T04:31:50.038-08:00

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-91542414760798428802010-02-08T08:54:00.000-08:002010-02-08T08:55:25.290-08:00

Sachin 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-7377139214797755102010-01-30T01:16:00.000-08:002010-01-30T01:19:57.711-08:00

It 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-15962084221258170342010-01-04T00:09:00.000-08:002010-01-04T00:13:11.321-08:00

The 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 long

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-75088344856934490792010-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:002010-01-01T20:49:30.402-08:00

As 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-60613442835944542622009-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:002009-12-27T08:57:12.101-08:00

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-54410106205188108082009-12-13T03:07:00.001-08:002009-12-13T03:07:36.283-08:00

Almost 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-84729396936537070152009-12-02T23:47:00.000-08:002009-12-02T23:49:48.163-08:00

A 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.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-26771870609348155282009-11-19T02:29:00.000-08:002009-11-19T02:30:10.479-08:00

As England prepares to take on South Africa in their ODI series, there is little doubt that the home team start as favourites, despite their disappointing showing in the recent ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Little more than a month ago, England upset the Proteas by 22 runs at Centurion in that competition to extend their unbeaten run against them to six matches, their best-ever.However, despite

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-13837623384577477512009-11-15T13:38:00.000-08:002009-11-15T13:45:45.009-08:00

A couple of months ago, we examined the players who had remained above the threshold of 800 points for the longest in One Day International cricket. Now, as Test Match hostilities commence between Sri Lanka and India it is time to investigate their Test Match equivalents.The first player to reach 800 batting points in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings was Clem Hill. After scoring 119 in

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-19884702386108089792009-10-21T04:43:00.001-07:002009-10-21T04:43:43.195-07:00

International cricket is littered with players who were only fortunate enough to represent their country on one occasion. As it currently stands, there are 386 One Test wonders, 173 One ODI wonders and 65 women have played just the solitary One Day International match. Of course, some may yet continue their international careers, but here we present a tribute to those cricketers who achieved

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-7754330087958741982009-10-15T08:41:00.001-07:002009-10-15T08:43:50.747-07:00

It is a tough life being an Associate cricketer. Twenty-five representative teams have played official One Day Internationals, and it is often in just the major tournaments that the smaller nations have the opportunity to pitch themselves against the big boys. In that respect, it is especially hard for those players to make an impact on the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings as the matches they

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-50450454526387654412009-09-24T06:30:00.002-07:002009-09-24T06:31:00.022-07:00

The ultimate achievement for any international cricketer is to be ranked number one in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings. Not many have managed it but the upcoming Champions Trophy in South Africa will give viewers the opportunity to watch some of the all-time greats of the game who have dominated over the past decade or more. So here we present the ‘number ones to watch’ – in other words

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-7831317483577774372009-09-18T04:23:00.000-07:002009-09-18T04:27:52.338-07:00

At the first competition in Bangladesh in late 1998, it was two victorious South Africans who took advantage of the low, slow conditions to make the biggest impact. Jacques Kallis’s match-winning unbeaten 113 against Sri Lanka enabled him to leap ten places to 11th and Pat Symcox – revelling in being thrown the new ball – found the conditions in Dhaka much to his liking as he moved up to within

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-70794044517287627662009-08-19T05:17:00.001-07:002009-08-19T05:18:23.049-07:00

In mountaineering they are known as the 8000ers – the fourteen summits in the world which rise to more than eight thousand metres. Seventeen people have managed to make it to the top of all of these peaks – no mean achievement.The Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings have a similar threshold of greatness – the achieving of 800 points in either the batting or bowling tables. Less rare than the

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-77137613834628039802009-08-06T05:52:00.000-07:002009-08-06T05:59:29.140-07:00

As the Ashes merry-go-round moves on to Leeds, memories will no doubt be stirred of the great deeds from twenty-eight years ago when first Ian Botham and then Bob Willis upset the odds of 500/1 to give England the most unlikely of victories.While Bob Willis’s eight for 43 was crucial in applying the coup de grace, it was Ian Botham’s unbeaten 149 which really captured the imagination and secured

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-50265025779586363362009-07-13T08:12:00.000-07:002009-07-13T08:18:30.944-07:00

With apologies to those who have been waiting to discover the elder statesmen of the game who have made their mark on the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for One Day International cricket, it is a case of better late than never.Viv Richards spent the vast majority of the 1980s on top of the ODI Batting Ratings and he also holds the distinction for having played the greatest-ever innings as

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-66345678110006711942009-07-07T09:50:00.000-07:002009-07-07T09:55:10.106-07:00

With the battle for The Ashes about to get underway in Cardiff, what better way to analyse who might come out on top than to use the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings. We can compare each team piece by piece to try to ascertain which of them will end up holding the urn come the end of August by summing the total Ratings for the players in each department of the game:Opening batsmen: England

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-68838223632893082932009-06-08T01:21:00.000-07:002009-06-08T01:22:12.660-07:00

Anyone watching the Bangladesh v India match in the ICC World Twenty20 from Trent Bridge would have been aware of the commentators mentioning that Bangladesh’s Shakib al Hasan was the top-rated all-rounder in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for One Day Internationals. Amid the Yuvraj Singh-inspired carnage of the later overs in Nottingham, Shakib still managed to bowl his four overs for

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-29195433441290959242009-05-12T01:41:00.001-07:002009-05-12T01:43:28.459-07:00

This week, England picked five specialist bowlers and defeated the West Indies inside three days in the earliest Test Match ever held in England – starting a full five days earlier than the previous record-holder. Debutant Tim Bresnan only bowled seven overs despite nudging the 90mph mark on the radar speed gun, but the other four bowlers all contributed towards the victory with crucial wickets

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-14713094478127014192009-04-21T09:50:00.000-07:002009-04-21T09:56:39.594-07:00

Aubrey Faulkner may be the only man to date to have topped both Test Match batting and bowling Ratings tables, but two players have achieved the feat in One Day International matches – one man and one woman.The man in question is Keith Stackpole. He made his Test debut for Australia against England at the Adelaide Oval in 1966 and was a good-enough batsman to play in 43 Test Matches in total,

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-45673071395815998712009-04-13T23:02:00.000-07:002009-04-13T23:09:53.782-07:00

Since the very first Test Match of all was played in March 1877, a total of sixty-five different men have found their way to the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for batsmen. Furthermore, there have been 73 players who have topped the bowling charts. However, only one man’s name appears on both lists – and it will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the all-rounder

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-29262816846187797642009-03-28T08:53:00.000-07:002009-03-28T11:12:19.908-07:00

And so England's women return home triumphantly from Australia with the ICC Women’s World Cup for the first time since 1993, having beaten New Zealand by four wickets in the final at the North Sydney Oval.Looking at the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings it is easy to see why they emerged as champions. They ended the competition with their top four batsmen all ranked in the world's top 11,

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-33150684548846519102009-03-17T03:58:00.000-07:002009-03-17T05:41:49.890-07:00

For the best part of two decades, there was nothing like a Test series against the West Indies to send your batting average into freefall. For those unfortunate enough to have their Test careers coincide with the four-pronged pace battery, it was a case of “what might have been” as their overall Test records were deflated somewhat by their ordeal by pace. Here by way of an example are four

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-3922443296410684482009-03-05T04:29:00.000-08:002009-03-05T09:04:23.961-08:00

Before the recent Johannesburg Test, much was made of the lack of experience in the Australian bowling attack. Going into that match, the entire team had taken a total of just 135 Test wickets between them, of which 78 could be attributed to Mitchell Johnson.Of course, by winning the Test, they added another twenty to that total, but this does beg the question – how does this Australian attack

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-8003167400867629352009-02-24T04:49:00.000-08:002009-02-24T04:57:02.278-08:00

This year sees the silver anniversary of what is generally considered to be the greatest ODI innings of all-time - the majestic unbeaten 189 by Viv Richards against England at Old Trafford back in 1984.Richards himself rated this innings as one of the best he had ever played. But how does the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings computer see it? Last year we counted down the best bowling

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-62525616288961510322009-02-09T11:59:00.000-08:002009-02-09T12:03:59.636-08:00

For our final look at the inaugural Hall of Fame class, we examine the often unsung heroes of a team – the spinners. We also tackle the players they rely on to keep the batsman in his crease – the wicket-keepers.Bishan BediTests: Highest Rating 804 (1977), Highest Ranking 1st (1973-1978). 13 matches at number 1ODIs: Highest Rating 349 (1976), Highest Ranking 11th (1977).At times a controversial

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-18063968519563019552009-01-30T04:09:00.000-08:002009-01-30T04:17:41.836-08:00

There is nothing like seeing a fast bowler in full flight, and ten of them have been elected to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Here is how they performed in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings over the course of their careers.Sydney BarnesTests: Highest Rating 932 (1914), Highest Ranking 1st (1910-1914). 22 matches at number 1Nearly a hundred years on, no-one has managed to surpass Barnes’s

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-35472296375547914392009-01-22T08:19:00.000-08:002009-01-29T01:25:09.759-08:00

Having tackled the openers and the middle-order kings, here are the terrific ten who most definitely ‘can bat, can bowl’ – the Hall of Fame all-rounders.Richie BenaudTests: Highest Rating 532 (1959), Highest Ranking 1st (1957-1960). 53 matches at number 1He may best be known as the doyen of television commentators, but in his time he was a fantastic captain, not to mention a superb all-rounder.

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-53863246651176467902009-01-15T08:25:00.001-08:002009-01-29T01:32:17.646-08:00

The top ten of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings are a excellent measure of which players are in the greatest current run of form. However, a true test of sustained excellence can be estimated from the number of matches each player has spent at the top of the tree.It could be argued that this might favour current players as there are more international matches played nowadays than there

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-63942649957140959752009-01-11T17:05:00.000-08:002009-01-12T03:11:40.087-08:00

Having tackled the openers last time out, now let’s examine the middle-order hall-of-famers:Allan BorderTests: Highest Rating 877 (1981), Highest Ranking 1st (1984-1987). 37 matches at number 1ODIs: Highest Rating 794 (1985), Highest Ranking 5th (1982).The man who first moulded Australia into the number one Test team spent practically the entire decade of the 1980s in the world’s top five. He

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-83985441794543230792009-01-02T10:34:00.000-08:002009-01-02T10:48:50.223-08:00

With the announcement of the founder class of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, it gives us an opportunity to examine how the inductees fared in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings over the course of their careers. Rather than studying all 55 at once, let’s tackle the openers first:Geoff BoycottTests: Highest Rating 764 (1971), Highest Ranking 3rd (1971)ODIs: Highest Rating 752 (1981), Highest

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-34561957107359083652008-12-31T08:14:00.000-08:002009-01-02T03:41:06.051-08:00

As the old year comes to a close, it is time to reflect on the Ratings year and who were the biggest movers and shakers.Five batsmen managed to achieve Test batting Ratings of more than 900 points over the course of the year: Mike Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. In contrast, Muttiah Muralitharan was the only bowler to break the 900 barrier in

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-13643583467548854822008-12-24T11:07:00.000-08:002009-01-29T01:30:41.160-08:00

And so Shiv Chanderpaul takes his place among the elites of the game as his Batting Rating has reached the elusive 900-point level, after maintaining an average of 104.78 over his thirteen Tests in 2007 and 2008.He is the 25th batsman to reach 900 points in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and the record seventh from the West Indies. We know that Donald Bradman achieved

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-65065341092739160012008-12-16T11:15:00.000-08:002008-12-17T00:12:46.903-08:00

By contrast to the mere two batsmen who have taken their leave from the Test arena at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings pile, a total of sixteen bowlers have managed it. Most of them achieved the feat in the early years of Test cricket when a variety of factors led to them not playing again. For example, the First World War curtailed the career of Sydney Barnes at the age of

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-37521252578101434452008-12-09T04:24:00.000-08:002008-12-09T04:26:27.080-08:00

Donald Bradman’s final Test innings constitutes one of the greatest stories in cricket folklore, despite the fact that it only lasted two deliveries. As far as his Reliance Mobile ICC Player Ranking was concerned, it dropped him a mere three points from 957 to 954, but his batting average dropped far more significantly from 101.39 to its final resting place of 99.94.Despite that disappointment,

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-75135344553833946792008-11-25T02:58:00.000-08:002008-11-25T03:43:55.409-08:00

The good thing about being an all-rounder is that if you are struggling with one aspect of your game, you can always fall back on the other to maintain your place in the side. Take Jacques Kallis for example: he averages just 13.60 with the bat in his last five Tests but has taken 14 wickets at 24.64. Kallis is a special case – he has been rated the world’s top all-rounder for all but eleven

Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11046306222138237354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-47032511300746428292008-11-13T02:15:00.000-08:002008-11-13T02:18:02.208-08:00

And so Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly take their leave from the Test arena after two fantastic careers. One of them departs with more than six hundred wickets and the other with over seven thousand runs. However, despite these two being considered among the greats of the game, they share another trait – neither of them managed to reach number one in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-69447721248939613622008-11-04T20:05:00.000-08:002008-11-04T20:10:03.842-08:00

A ‘cup of coffee’ is North American sports terminology for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before being returned to the minorsTest Cricket history is littered with players who have represented their country just once. These players range from West

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-1124334152002253162008-10-25T00:20:00.000-07:002008-10-25T00:30:16.941-07:00

A quick glance at the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test cricket shows that Shivnarine Chanderpaul leads the way – albeit narrowly – from Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Hussey. Other than appearing in the current top three of the World Batting Ratings, these batsmen share another characteristic – they are all left-handed.In fact, there are a total of eleven left-handers in the top thirty

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-37372197927380442022008-10-15T20:39:00.000-07:002008-10-15T20:45:16.405-07:00

There is little doubt that we are currently in the middle of a golden era of Test Match batting, with five batsmen from four different countries all fighting it out for the top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings. In fact, seven of the top ten current batsmen have reached the magical plateau of 900 points, a level achieved by only twenty-four batsmen in the history of the Test game.In

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-63293794486574825482008-10-05T08:41:00.000-07:002008-10-12T06:31:24.539-07:00

As the Indian ‘big four’ near the end of their Test careers, what can the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings tell us about their contributions to world cricket over the past decade or more?In the record 76 Tests they have played together in the middle-order, they have totalled more than twenty-one thousand runs with forty-seven centuries. However, Rankings-wise, it could be argued that only two

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-4909188335731809042008-09-01T08:38:00.000-07:002008-10-13T22:49:39.237-07:00

Stuart Broad ripped the heart out of the South African batting at Trent Bridge with sensational figures of five for 23 in his ten overs to set up a comprehensive ten-wicket triumph for England. So - having examined the top Test innings, how about giving One-day bowlers their due. It is always more tricky to compare ODI bowling efforts - for instance - how does five for 50 in ten overs compare

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-21281898125400093672008-08-20T22:54:00.000-07:002008-10-13T22:56:10.917-07:00

Ajantha Mendis has been making all the headlines in the recent Tests in Sri Lanka. In his first Test series, he took an incredible 26 wickets – a record for a debut three-match series – and now stands thirtieth in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for bowlers with 515 points.Throughout Test history, numerous players have made great impressions in their first few Tests and cashed in on their

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-73894785310184015882008-08-07T10:02:00.000-07:002008-10-13T22:51:04.393-07:00

As soon as the ink was dry on last week’s column extolling the virtues of Virender Sehwag, he not only played another astonishing innings, but one that rated higher than his other two mentioned last week. And so, to answer all the requests, here is the definitive list of the top ten innings of all time - in reverse order - as rated by the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings computer.10 - Virender

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-35017167220805498652008-07-29T10:00:00.000-07:002008-10-13T22:48:00.459-07:00

Ashwell Prince and AB de VIlliers both played excellent innings at Headingley. As did the four Sri Lankans who all scored centuries in their one-sided match with India at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. But how do those innings compare with the all-time great innings? Using the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings, it is possible to compare these innings and see how they fit into the top

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997896562547050880.post-5340487323386293692008-07-24T09:59:00.000-07:002008-10-13T22:46:49.456-07:00

After the Lord's Test, batsmen Ian Bell and Neil McKenzie both reached their highest-ever Ratings, as did bowlers Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson. This begged the question - at what age do most Test cricketers reach their peaks, and is there a way of calculating this? 2518 men have played Test cricket so far, and without doubt, the best measure of current form and peak performance are the

ICC-Crickethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06624341128348546068noreply@blogger.com