Lara takes over as world's top batsman

West Indies left-hander Brian Lara, who made 688 runs in the recent three-match series against Sri Lanka, has dislodged Zimbabwe's Andy Flower from the number one spot on the world Test batting ratings.

The Trinidadian, who produced scores of 221 and 130 in the third Test in Colombo, moves ahead of Flower in the standings by seven points.

South Africa paceman Shaun Pollock replaces Australia's Glenn McGrath at the top of the bowling rankings, edging ahead by just three points with a total of 909.

McGrath failed to shine with the ball in his side's recent drawn Test series against New Zealand, taking only five wickets at an expensive average of 65.40.

Leading ratings sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and issued on Friday:

Top 10 batsmen

Player Team Points Average

1. B.Lara West Indies 905 50.49
2. A.Flower Zimbabwe 898 56.60
3. S.Tendulkar India 876 57.60
4= Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan 818 47.73
4= M.Jayawardene Sri Lanka 818 48.35
6. S.Waugh Australia 816 51.16
7. A.Gilchrist Australia 796 53.13
8. J.Kallis South Africa 776 47.86
9. R.Dravid India 771 52.76
10. H.Gibbs South Africa 723 41.17

Top 10 bowlers

Player Team Points Average

1. S.Pollock South Africa 909 20.14
2. G.McGrath Australia 906 21.89
3. M.Muralitharan Sri Lanka 881 24.63
4. A.Donald South Africa 785 21.64
5. D.Gough England 739 27.57
6. C.Vaas Sri Lanka 715 28.51
7. J.Gillespie Australia 714 25.11
8. Waqar Younis Pakistan 686 23.02
9. Saqlain Mushtaq Pakistan 678 29.45
10. J.Srinath India 676 29.31

Mail Cricket Editor