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Lara goes top of the world
Wisden CricInfo staff - December 7, 2001

Brian Lara's fabulous series in Sri Lanka – 688 runs at a three-figure average – has lifted him back to the top of the PricewaterhouseCoopers batting ratings for the first time since June 2000, when he dipped below Sachin Tendulkar. By December 2000 Lara's form was so dire that he had slid out of the Top Ten completely. Andy Flower, top since his own magnificent series against South Africa, slips to second, just ahead of Tendulkar.

Lara added to his collection of world records in the Sri Lankan series, by scoring over 42% of his side's total runs. But it wasn't enough, as Sri Lanka romped to a 3-0 whitewash. For Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene lies equal fourth in the batting list, and Muttiah Muralitharan third in the bowling.

In that bowling list Glenn McGrath has slipped behind new leader Shaun Pollock after a lacklustre series against New Zealand. McGrath, who went in to the series with a career-high rating of 919 after the Oval Test against England, took only five wickets at an average of 65.40 against New Zealand, who surprisingly drew the series 0-0.

India's Anil Kumble is knocking on the door of the Top Ten after his matchwinning eight-wicket haul against England at Mohali. Kumble is currently 11th, just behind his team-mate Javagal Srinath. Kumble's partner-in-spin Harbhajan Singh has gone up six places to 14th.

It's a different story for England. None of the bowlers who played at Mohali features in the top 50 of the ratings – only Bangladesh are in the same sorry boat. There's slightly better news on the batting front – Graham Thorpe remains 15th, while Marcus Trescothick is right behind him, up eight places at 16th.

The PwC Ratings

Batting
1 Brian Lara (WI) 905
2 Andy Flower (Zim) 898
3 Sachin Tendulkar (India) 876
4= Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) 818
4= Mahela Jayawardene (SL) 818
6 Steve Waugh (Aust) 816
7 Adam Gilchrist (Aust) 796
8 Jacques Kallis (SA) 776
9 Rahul Dravid (India) 771
10 Herschelle Gibbs (SA) 723

Bowling
1 Shaun Pollock (SA) 909
2 Glenn McGrath (Aust) 906
3 Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) 881
4 Allan Donald (SA) 785
5 Darren Gough (Eng) 739
6 Chaminda Vaas (SL) 715
7 Jason Gillespie (Aust) 714
8 Waqar Younis (Pak) 686
9 Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak) 678
10 Javagal Srinath (India) 676

For the full tables click here (you will be visiting a site outside of Wisden.com).

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