Michael Hussey has another chance to regain the number-one batting position in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship when Australia goes head to head with New Zealand in the five-ODI series in Napier tomorrow.
Hussey had briefly claimed the top spot from India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni after a successful series against Pakistan in which he scored 220 runs.
Hussey managed just 95 runs in four ODIs against the West Indies while Dhoni’s own contribution in the just concluded series against South Africa was 103 runs.
However, with only 10 points separating the two batsmen, Hussey has a good opportunity not only to retake the number-one position but also retain it for a longer period as India has no ODI commitments until May.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Michael Clarke also have good opportunities to climb up the ladder.
Ponting currently sits in fifth spot and trails AB de Villiers of South Africa by 46 points.
De Villers has achieved a career-best third position after back-to-back centuries in Gwalior and Ahmedabad against India. Clarke can potentially return to the top 10 as he trails 10th-placed Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka by 37 points.
Brendon McCullum is the only New Zealander in the top 20 but is well-placed to move up the order.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori leads the field by a distance and will be aiming to widen the gap with Ray Price of Zimbabwe whose side takes on the West Indies in a five-ODI series in Guyana from Thursday.
Shane Bond is the other New Zealand bowler inside the top 10 in seventh position while Australia off-spinner Nathan Haurtiz is in 13th spot, Mitchell Johnson is in 15th place and Doug Bollinger is in 18th position.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship, fourth-place New Zealand can leapfrog third-placed South Africa if it wins the series by 4-1 or better. In case of a 4-1 win, New Zealand would jump to 120 ratings points while a 5-0 clean sweep would put it ahead of India in second place on 124 ratings points which would guarantee it a cash award of US$75,000 which is presented to the side which finishes second at the annual cut-off date of 1 April.
New Zealand’s failure to win all the five matches of the series will mean India will pocket the US$75,000 in addition to US$175,000 for finishing as the number-one Test side at the annual cut-off.
Australia has already sealed number-one position in the ODI Championship while South Africa has also confirmed second position in the Test Championship.
Forthcoming ODIs
Bangladesh v England
2 Mar – Second ODI (d/n), Mirpur
5 Mar – Third ODI (d/n), Chittagong
New Zealand v Australia
3 Mar – First ODI (d/n), Napier
6 Mar – Second ODI, Auckland
9 Mar – Third ODI (d/n), Hamilton
11 Mar – Fourth ODI (d/n), Auckland
13 Mar – Fifth ODI (d/n), Wellington
West Indies v Zimbabwe
4 Mar – First ODI, Guyana
6 Mar – Second ODI, Guyana
10 Mar – Third ODI, St Vincent
12 Mar – Fourth ODI, St Vincent
14 Mar – Fifth ODI, St Vincent
Reliance Mobile ODI Championship (as of 1 March, after the first ODI between Bangladesh and England and before the start of New Zealand-Australia and West Indies-Zimbabwe ODI series)
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 134
2 India 122
3 South Africa 117
4 New Zealand 113
5 England 110
6 Sri Lanka 108
7 Pakistan 104
8 West Indies 74
9 Bangladesh 53
10 Zimbabwe 26
11 Ireland 25
12 Kenya 2
ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 1 March, after the first ODI between Bangladesh and England and before the start of New Zealand-Australia and West Indies-Zimbabwe ODI series)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) MS Dhoni Ind 819 51.13 837 v Aus at Delhi 2009
2 ( – ) Mike Hussey Aus 809 53.94 865 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 (+1) AB de Villiers SA 785! 42.18 785 v Ind at Ahmedabad
2010
4 (-1) S. Tendulkar Ind 762 45.12 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
5 ( – ) Ricky Ponting Aus 739 43.30 831 v NZ at Hobart 2007
6 ( – ) Graeme Smith SA 718 40.67 785 v Ind at Kolkata 2005
7= ( – ) S.Chanderpaul WI 714 41.66 778 v Eng at Guyana 2009
( – ) Chris Gayle WI 714 39.38 808 v Zim at Harare 2003
9 (+2) Jacques Kallis SA 713 45.74 818 v WI at Johannesburg
2004
10 (-1) K. Sangakkara SL 701 36.55 755 v Pak at Colombo (RPS)
2006
11 (-1) Virender Sehwag Ind 694 34.25 787 v NZ at Auckland 2003
12 (+2) P. Collingwood Eng 691! 36.71 691 v Ban at Mirpur 2010
13 (-1) T. Dilshan SL 687! 33.70 687 v Ind at Mirpur 2010
14 (-1) Yuvraj Singh Ind 682 37.09 786 v WI at Kingston 2009
15 ( – ) Michael Clarke Aus 664 42.73 751 v SL at Melbourne 2008
16 (+2) Suresh Raina Ind 659 ! 38.17 659 v SA at Ahmedabad 2010
17 (-1) Herschelle Gibbs SA 657 36.13 752 v SL at Durban 2003
18 (-1) M. Yousuf Pak 655 42.40 779 v Zim at Harare 2002
19 (+2) Virat Kohli Ind 647* 52.93 654 v Ban at Mirpur 2010
20 (-1) B. McCullum NZ 643 28.91 666 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2009
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating
1 ( – ) Daniel Vettori NZ 761 31.36 4.14 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
2 ( – ) Ray Price Zim 701*! 33.57 3.73 701 v SA at Centurion 2009
3 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 698 31.24 4.09 716 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
4 ( – ) N. Kulasekara SL 682 27.50 4.57 727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
5 ( – ) Kyle Mills NZ 675 26.45 4.68 723 v Aus at Melbourne 2009
6 ( – ) Harbhajan Singh Ind 645 32.80 4.30 738 v WI at Bridgetown 2002
7= (+1) Shane Bond NZ 642 20.87 4.28 810 v SA at St George’s 2007
( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 642 25.90 5.13 703 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
9 ( – ) Jacob Oram NZ 641 30.67 4.36 770 v Aus at The Oval 2004
10 (+3) Dale Steyn SA 640 30.79 5.35 662 v Zim at Benoni 2009
11 (-1) Shahid Afridi Pak 639 34.61 4.61 667 v Ind at Mirpur 2008
12 (-1) James Anderson Eng 635 29.93 4.94 700 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
13 (+1) Nathan Hauritz Aus 613* 31.86 4.51 622 v Ind at Guwahati 2009
14 (-2) Johan Botha SA 612 39.81 4.59 665 v Aus at Centurion 2009
15 ( – ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 609 26.47 4.96 729 v Ban at Darwin 2008
16 ( – ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 605 24.38 4.39 758 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
17 ( – ) Ajantha Mendis SL 604* 17.86 4.29 642 v SA at Centurion 2009
18 ( – ) Doug Bollinger Aus 600*! 16.93 3.94 600 v WI at Melbourne 2010
19 ( – ) M. Muralidaran SL 599 22.98 3.91 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
20 ( – ) Nathan Bracken Aus 596 24.36 4.41 808 v SL at St George’s 2007
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 420 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
2 ( – ) Shane Watson Aus 370 384 v Pak at Sydney 2010
3 ( – ) Yuvraj Singh Ind 343 357 v Ban at Mirpur 2010
4 ( – ) Jacob Oram NZ 340 383 v WI at Queenstown 2008
5 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 337 506 v WI at Bridgetown 2001
