ICC Champions Trophy 2009 unveiled

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy for the 2009 tournament is unveiled to media

ICC Test Player Rankings

Batsmen
Rank	Player	Team	Points	HS Rating
1	K Sangakkara	SL	859	938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2	Gautam Gambhir	Ind	847!	847 v NZ at Wellington 2009
3	Mahela Jayawardena	SL	830	854 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
4	S.Chanderpaul	WI	821	901 v NZ at Napier 2008
5	Mohammad Yousuf	Pak	818	933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6	Michael Clarke	Aus	808	855 v Eng at Headingley 2009
7	Younus Khan	Pak	801	880 v SL at Lahore 2009
8	Graeme Smith	SA	782	810 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
9	Ricky Ponting	Aus	779	942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
10	Jacques Kallis	SA	755	935 v NZ at Centurion 2007

Sangakkara reclaims number-one position as Jayawardena and Samaraweera achieve career-best rankings

ri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has reclaimed the number-one position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the fourth time in his career after brilliant knocks in the second Test against New Zealand.

The Sri Lanka captain followed up his half-century in the first innings with an exquisite 109 - his 20th Test century - to reclaim the top position from India's Gautam Gambhir.

Sangakkara first achieved the number-one ranking in December 2007 before he returned to the top spot in March 2008 and then in July 2009.

He is not the only one on the move after a successful campaign against New Zealand. Sangakkara's predecessor Mahela Jayawardena and middle-order batsmen Thilan Samaraweera, who was player of the series, have both achieved career-best rankings.

While Jayawardena has jumped four places to third position after knocks of 92 and 96 which made him the first Asian and fourth overall to be out in the 90s twice in a Test, Samaraweera's 11th century in what was his 54th Test has put him just outside the top 10 in 12th position after he had started the Test in 16th position.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, however, has failed to defend his 19th position and has dropped out of the top 20 after falling two places following knocks of 29 and 33.

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor and captain Daniel Vettori have also made movements in the right direction.

Taylor, who contributed 81 and 27 in the lost cause, has jumped four places to share 23rd spot with West Indies' Chris Gayle while Vettori's fourth Test century has helped him improve his ranking by one position. He now sits in 28th spot.

The only change in the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers is New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin who has slipped two places to 18th position.

Sri Lanka's left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is the biggest mover in the bowlers' rankings as the 31-year-old from Kurunegala has rocketed 12 places to 28th spot after match figures of 8-209, including 5-139 in the second innings.

New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel is the other bowler to rise in the latest bowling table. The off-spinner has climbed three places to 46th after match figures of 6-200, including 4-78 in the first innings.

South Africa's Dale Steyn leads the bowlers' ranking from Muttiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka and Mitchell Johnson of Australia.

There is also no change in the top five of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders as Jacques Kallis continues to lead the field by a distance. However, Vettori has achieved his career-best rating that has helped him open up the gap with third-placed Johnson.

Sri Lanka eye Indian scalp

Having toyed with Pakistan and New Zealand, Kumar Sangakkara's Sri Lanka are eyeing India as their next scalp as the battle heats up to be the world's top Test team.

Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan and New Zealand by identical 2-0 margins at home to climb to the number two spot in the official rankings with a rating of 120 behind number one team South Africa's 122.

With India just one rating point behind Sri Lanka on 119 and Ashes losers Australia in fourth place with 116, the scramble at the top could see a new number one by the end of the year.

Sri Lanka need to win their three-Test series in India in November-December to overtake South Africa, while a 2-0 win for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will push India to the top.

Sri Lanka have never won a Test match in India, let alone a series, in seven previous visits across the Palk Straits, with eight losses and six draws since their first Test there in Chennai in 1982.

It's a record Sangakkara, who has won four of his five Tests as captain since taking over from Mahela Jayawardene earlier this year, is determined to set straight.

"The Indian tour will test everyone, mentally, physically and skill wise," he told reporters.

"But if we do our homework right, be confident, prepare as best as we can and go out there looking to win, and if our attitude is positive, we will do well."

When they last played a series in India in December 2005, Sri Lanka lost the second Test in New Delhi by 188 runs and the third in Ahmedabad by 259 runs after the first game in Chennai was washed out.

"One likes to play against the best and India will definitely be a tough side to conquer," said Sangakkara. "It is not easy playing Test cricket in India."

Both sides get a chance to gauge each other's strengths when India join New Zealand and Sri Lanka in a limited-overs tri-series in Colombo from September 8-14.

India and Sri Lanka are drawn in different group for the Champions Trophy in South Africa in late-September, but could meet in the semi-finals if they qualify after the preliminary round.

WC2011

Reliance Mobile Test Championship

	Team	Matches	Points	Rating
1	South Africa	30	3672	122
2	Sri Lanka	24	2852	120
3	India	28	3327	119
4	Australia	25	3106	116
5	England	33	3258	105
6	Pakistan	17	1424	84
7	New Zealand	22	1794	80
8	West Indies	25	1910	76
9	Bangladesh	19	255	13

Sri Lanka eyes South Africa's number-one spot

Sri Lanka has narrowed the gap with number-one ranked South Africa to just two points in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship after winning the two-Test series against New Zealand in Colombo on Sunday.

Sri Lanka's 202 runs victory in the first Test at Galle and its 96-run win at Colombo has earned it a crucial ratings point which has put it on 120 points – just two behind South Africa and one ahead of third-placed India.

Such is the competitive nature of Test cricket, six ratings points separate the Proteas from Australia. And with all the top four teams to resume action in the longer format of the game immediately after next month's ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, a reshuffling of the pack is definitely on the cards.

The first Test series after the ICC Champions Trophy is West Indies' tour to Australia for three Tests, followed by Sri Lanka's tour to India, England's tour to South Africa for four Tests and a three-Test tour by Pakistan's to Australia.

This gives both India and Sri Lanka the first shot at the number-one spot as the first Test between South Africa and England starts after the conclusion of the Test series in India which, according to the Future Tours Programme, is likely to start in November. While Sri Lanka will need to win the series to go top of the table, India will have to win 2-0 to topple South Africa.

While Sri Lanka's commanding performance in its domestic international series has put it in sight of the top spot, New Zealand has retained its seventh position in the rankings but has conceded two ratings points to lead eighth-placed West Indies by just four rating points and trailed sixth-place Pakistan by the same margin.

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Match Schedule

Day	Date	The Wanderers		Centurion
1	Tue 22 Sept			SA v SL	D/N
2	Wed 23 Sep	Pakistan v WI	D/N
3	Thu 24 Sept			SA v NZ	D
4	Fri 25 Sept	SL v England	D/N
5	Sat 26 Sept	WI v Australia	D	India v Pakistan	D/N
6	Sun 27 Sept	NZ v SL	D	SA v England	D/N
7	Mon 28 Sept			Australia v India	D/N
8	Tue 29 Sept	England v NZ	D/N
9	Wed 30 Sept	India v WI	D/N	Australia v Pakistan	D
10	Thu 1 Oct
11	Fri 2 Oct			A1 V B2	D/N
12	Sat 3 Oct	B1 v A2	D/N
13	Sun 4 Oct
14	Mon 5 Oct			Final	D/N

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 - Squad list

Australia

Ricky Ponting (captain)
Michael Clarke (vice-captain)
Nathan Bracken
Callum Ferguson
Brad Haddin
Nathan Hauritz
Ben Hilfenhaus
James Hopes
Michael Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Peter Siddle
Adam Voges
Shane Watson
Cameron White

England

Andrew Strauss (captain)
James Anderson
Ravi Bopara
Tim Bresnan
Stuart Broad
Paul Collingwood
Joe Denly
Eoin Morgan
Matt Prior
Adil Rashid
Owais Shah
Ryan Sidebottom
Graeme Swann
Luke Wright

India

M S Dhoni (captain)
Abhishek Nayar
Amit Mishra
Ashish Nehra
Dinesh Karthik
Gautam Gambhir
Harbhajan Singh
Ishant Sharma
Praveen Kumar
Rahul Dravid
R P Singh
Sachin Tendulkar
Suresh Raina
Yusuf Pathan
Yuvraj Singh (vice captain)

New Zealand

Daniel Vettori (captain)
Shane Bond
Neil Broom
Ian Butler
Brendon Diamanti
Grant Elliott
Martin Guptill
Gareth Hopkins
Brendon McCullum
Kyle Mills
Jacob Oram
Jeetan Patel
Jesse Ryder
Ross Taylor
Daryl Tuffey

Pakistan

Younus Khan (captain)
Fawad Alam
Iftikhar Anjum
Imran Nazir
Kamran Akmal
Misbah-ul-Haq
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Aamer
Mohammad Asif
Naved-ul-Hasan
Saeed Ajmal
Shahid Afridi (vice captain)
Shoaib Malik
Umar Akmal
Umar Gul

South Africa

Graeme Smith (captain)
Hashim Amla
Johan Botha (vice captain)
Mark Boucher
JP Duminy
AB de Villiers
Herschelle Gibbs
Jacques Kallis
Albie Morkel
Makhaya Ntini
Wayne Parnell
Robin Peterson
Dale Steyn
Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Roelof van der Merwe

Sri Lanka

Kumar Sangakkara (capt)
Ajantha Mendis
Angelo Mathews
Chamara Kapugedera
Dammika Prasad
Lasith Malinga
Mahela Jayawardena
Sanath Jayasuriya
Muttiah Muralidaran
Nuwan Kulasekara
Thilan Samaraweera,
Thilan Thushara
Thilina Kandamby
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Upul Tharanga

West Indies

Floyd Reifer (captain)
David Bernard
Tino Best
Royston Crandon
Travis Dowlin
Andre Fletcher
Nikita Miller
Daren Powell
Kieran Powell
Dale Richards
Kemar Roach
Darren Sammy (vice captain)
Devon Smith
Gavin Tonge
Chadwick Walton

Leading writers claim Jayasuriya is the greatest 50-over cricketer

Legendary New Zealand cricket writer Don Cameron and Scyld Berry, Editor of Wisden, believe that Sanath Jayasuriya should be regarded as the greatest one-day player of all time.

Cameron, who was the New Zealand Herald Cricket Correspondent between 1960 and 1998, believes that Sanath Jayasuriya, who will be part of Sri Lanka?s squad at the ICC Champions Trophy 2009, is deserving of this title, as cricket fans across the world discuss who they believe to be the world?s leading one-day cricketer.

"I have chosen Jayasuriya because he has led Sri Lankan cricket for close on half his 40 years, and whether blasting centuries or fiddling batsmen out with his subtle left-arm slows, plays cricket with a smile on his face, and magic in his fingers," said Cameron.

"And when he and Romesh Kaluwitharana played their explosive opening innings as Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1995-96 he brought new life to a one-day game that was strangling itself in theory. From a personal point of view he is a cricket-writer's dream."

Meanwhile, Berry agrees that it was the method in which Jayasuriya played the game which makes him deserving of this crown.

"In the past, batting was defensive and bowling was attacking. Now, as a generalisation, it is the other way round. And nobody has done more to bring about this change than Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, to my mind the greatest of 50-over cricketers," said Berry.

"I can still remember how shocked England were by their World Cup quarter-final of 1996 in Faisalabad. In their philosophy they had never dreamed of an opening batsman who hit every ball from the start, admittedly on a flat wicket, without playing himself in.

"Romesh Kaluwitharana made crash-ball 20s and 30s. His partner, Jayasuriya, scored fast and big: over 12,000 ODI runs in his career, and the second most centuries after Sachin Tendulkar, and all scored at almost a run a ball seizing the initiative for his country.

"If this is not enough to seal the deal, Jayasuriya has been - until Ajantha Mendis came along - Sri Lanka's second best spinner after Muttiah Muralidaran, and taken more than 300 ODI wickets. A brilliant left handed all rounder, his powerful hitting made all formats of cricket more exciting for us all."

To have your say on whom you believe is the greatest one-day player ever.

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Promo

South Africa determined to remain number one and win ICC event

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur is determined that his side can maintain its number one spot in the Reliance Mobile Team rankings.

"Being number one on the ICC Reliance Mobile world rankings is no time to rest on our laurels. We must be continually looking to take our game to a new level," said Arthur speaking at Cricket South Africa's season launch.

Also speaking at the launch, Proteas captain Graeme Smith said his team was raring to go and are looking forward to the new season.

"Over the last year we ticked two important boxes in beating both Australia and England away from home. We have two more chances this season to tick another box by winning an important ICC event.

"There will also be the highlight of the home season in playing the Castle Test series against England as well as the MTN ODI series and the Standard Bank International Pro20s.

"We currently hold the D'Oliveira Trophy for our Test series win in England and we intend to keep it."

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