Harmison closes in on top spot

Stephen Harmison’s six-wicket haul in the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge has enabled him to further close in on the top spot in the PwC bowlers’ ratings

Wisden Cricinfo staff14-Jun-2004Stephen Harmison’s six-wicket haul in the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge has enabled him to further close in on the top spot in the PwC bowlers’ ratings. In the latest list, Harmison is ranked second with a career-best 880 points, just 24 fewer than Muttiah Muralitharan.There were two other bowlers who made significant progress after turning in superb performances in the third Test – Chris Cairns’s nine wickets in his final match ensured that he climbed up six places to No. 14, while Ashley Giles jumped nine spots to No. 29 after a match haul of 6 for 116.

Rank	Bowler	Points	Ave
1	Muralitharan	904	22.76
2	Harmison	880	23.77
3	Pollock	837	21.46
4	Shoaib	826	24.47
5	Warne	777	25.42
6	McGrath	775	21.71
7	Kumble	751	28.22
8	Gillespie	746	25.56
9	Ntini	722	29.67
10	Vaas	653	30.21

Among the batsmen, Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris – New Zealand’s two centurions in the match – profited the most after the Test. Fleming moved up nine places to No. 20 while Styris climbed eight ranks to No. 33. Marcus Trescothick was England’s highest-ranked batsman at No. 16, just one spot ahead of Graham Thorpe, whose matchwinning hundred helped him move up two places.

Rank	Batsman	Points	Ave
1	Lara	895	53.71
2	Dravid	892	58.09
3	Hayden	881	57.48
4	Ponting	864	54.71
5	Kallis	833	54.07
6	Gibbs	815	49.40
7	Inzamam	785	49.63
8	Tendulkar	784	57.39
9	Sehwag	782	52.72
10	Richardson	761	47.94

Click here for the complete ratings.