Makhaya Ntini has climbed four places to 6th in the PwC Ratings, after demolishing England at Lord’s with match figures of 10 for 220, while his captain, Graeme Smith, has leapt seven places to 12th in the batting stakes

Wisden CricInfo staff04-Aug-2003Makhaya Ntini has climbed four places to 6th in the PwC Ratings, after demolishing England at Lord’s with match figures of 10 for 220, while his captain, Graeme Smith, has leapt seven places to 12th in the batting stakes. Smith, who has yet to qualify for a full rating because he is a relative newcomer to Test cricket, has every chance of breaking into the top ten before the end of the series, after picking up 621 runs in his first three innings alone.It is the highest rating yet achieved by both Ntini and Smith, although not all the South Africans have been upwardly mobile this week. Shaun Pollock has slipped back to second spot in the bowling, after his mauling from Andrew Flintoff on the final day, although he is a single point behind the new leader, Muttiah Muralitharan.Flintoff himself has jumped 18 places after his brutal 142 from 146 balls, although he is way down the list at No. 61. England, however, still have six batsmen in the top 30, including Michael Vaughan at No. 3, and Graham Thorpe – who may be back in the side by the time the third Test starts at Trent Bridge next week.England’s bowlers have all slipped in the ratings. The most significant mover is Darren Gough, who is now out of the top 20 and at his lowest rating for six years.

Rank  (Change)  Player         Team Points Average Highest1  (-) Brian Lara      WI  887  51.55    9082  (+1) S.R.Tendulkar Ind  843  57.58    8993  (-1) Michael Vaughan Eng  836  50.21    8774  (-) Matthew Hayden Aus  821  52.00    9355  (-) Ricky Ponting Aus  816  51.11    8586  (-) Jacques Kallis SA  804  50.40    8497  (-) Adam Gilchrist Aus  799  58.80    8768  (-) Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak  793  48.92    8579  (+1) Rahul Dravid Ind  789  53.46    87510  (-1) H.H.Gibbs SA  785  45.18    81511  (-) Mark Richardson NZ  767  48.73    76712  (+7) Graeme Smith SA  753*    78.62    75313  (-1) K.C.Sangakkara SL  737  48.20    81614  (-1) Steve Waugh     Aus  730  51.07    89615  (-1) M.Jayawardene SL  717  47.24    84016  (-1) Justin Langer Aus  713  45.86    78317  (-1) Yousuf Youhana Pak  692  47.71    76218  (-1) S.Chanderpaul WI  690  44.20     73719  (+1) Stephen Fleming NZ  673  38.60    69220= (+3) Mark Butcher Eng  668  34.26    684(+2) Damien Martyn Aus  668  46.51    806Rank  (Change) Player         Team Points Average Highest1  (+1) M.Muralitharan SL  861  23.55    9152  (-1) Shaun Pollock SA  860  20.70    9103  (-) Glenn McGrath Aus  848  21.71    9144  (-) Harbhajan Singh Ind  746  26.59    7635  (-) Jason Gillespie Aus  740  24.92    7786  (+4) Makhaya Ntini SA  739  28.16    7397= (-) Stuart MacGill Aus  691  26.22    763(-) Shoaib Akhtar Pak  691*    27.18    710(-1) Andrew Caddick Eng  691  29.91    73410  (-1) Anil Kumble     Ind  688   28.00    87211  (-) Saqlain Mushtaq Pak  680  28.93    76412  (-) Jacques Kallis SA  669  28.60    71313  (-) Waqar Younis Pak  650  23.56    90914  (-) Daryl Tuffey NZ  643*    26.85    66315  (-) Zaheer Khan     Ind  634*  33.35    63416  (-) Mervyn Dillon WI  619  32.23    69217  (-) Heath Streak Zim  614  26.85    79518  (-) Shane Bond      NZ  613*    24.30    63619  (+2) Chaminda Vaas SL  572  30.67    72320  (-) Matthew Hoggard Eng  569*    33.62    719

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