South Africa's 5-0 series win in the West Indies sees it climb back into the top four of the ICC ODI Championship for the first time since July 2004. The victory in the Caribbean boosted South Africa's rating by five points to 112.
West Indies went into the series only two points behind South Africa in the ICC table but the comprehensive defeat has seen its rating fall to 98 points, its lowest since November 2002, and its position fall to seventh.
It has been a poor series for the West Indies players too as reflected in Brian Lara's drop of 14 places to 22nd, his lowest one-day rating for four years. Ian Bradshaw was the only West Indies bowler to move up in the top 100 rankings, climbing five places to 17th.
West Indies will have to play really well to beat Pakistan, who have recently beaten India in the six-match ODI series, in its forthcoming series of three ODI matches starting on Wednesday, May 18.
Graeme Smith has achieved his best ever position in the ICC ODI Player Rankings, moving up to third place after South Africa's victory.
Smith replaces Jacques Kallis as the current leading South African one-day batsman. Boeta Dippenaar ended the series at 15th, while Ashwell Prince climbed 12 places to 51st.
In the bowling, Makhaya Ntini returned to the top ten, while Andre Nel has consolidated his status as a leading international bowler, climbing 20 places to 26th.
The top 10 ODI batsmen and bowlers are listed below.
The ICC ODI Championship table correct on 16 May 2005:
| Position | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Australia | 140 |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 117 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 116 |
| 4 | South Africa | 112 |
| 5 | Pakistan | 110 |
| 6 | England | 103 |
| 7 | West Indies | 98 |
| 8 | India | 97 |
| 9 | Zimbabwe | 50 |
| 10 | Kenya | 26 |
| 11 | Bangladesh | 11 |
ICC ODI Player Rankings - Batsmen
After West Indies v South Africa series
| Rank (Change) | Player | Team | Points | Average | Highest Ranking |
| 1 ( - ) | Ricky Ponting | Aus | 759 | 42.25 | 796 v Zim at Harare 2004 |
| 2 (+1) | Adam Gilchrist | Aus | 724 | 35.55 | 829 v SL at Dambulla 2004 |
| 3 (+2) | Graeme Smith | SA | 722 | 40.76 | 752 v WI at Kingston 2005 |
| 4 (-2) | R.R.Sarwan | WI | 717 | 46.28 | 753 v Pak at The Rose Bowl 2004 |
| 5= (+1) | Rahul Dravid | Ind | 711 | 40.06 | 733 v Pak at Manchester 1999 |
| (+1) | Andrew Flintoff | Eng | 711 | 35.18 | 772 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004 |
| 7 (+1) | K.C.Sangakkara | SL | 709 | 33.37 | 733 v Pak at Lahore 2004 |
| 8 (-4) | Jacques Kallis | SA | 708 | 45.40 | 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004 |
| 9 (+1) | Michael Clarke | Aus | 705 | 45.45 | 716 v Pak at Perth 2005 |
| 10 (+1) | Inzamam-ul-Haq | Pak | 701 | 39.92 | 788 v Eng at Karachi 1996 |
ICC Test Player Rankings - Bowlers
After West Indies v South Africa series
| Rank (Change) | Player | Team | Points | Average | Economy | Highest Ranking |
| 1 ( - ) | Glenn McGrath | Aus | 865 | 22.05 | 3.87 | 925 v SA at Bloemfontein 2002 |
| 2 (+1) | Chaminda Vaas | SL | 831 | 26.21 | 4.13 | 899 v SA at Colombo (RPS) |
| 3 (+1) | M.Muralitharan | SL | 830 | 22.12 | 3.78 | 934 v NZ at Sharjah 2002 |
| 4 (+1) | Brett Lee | Aus | 819 | 22.17 | 4.68 | 836 v Ind at Sydney 2004 |
| 5 (-3) | Shaun Pollock | SA | 805 | 24.14 | 3.77 | 926 v WI at Centurion 2004 |
| 6 ( - ) | Jason Gillespie | Aus | 786 | 23.94 | 4.11 | 855 v Pak at Lord's 2004 |
| 7 (+4) | Makhaya Ntini | SA | 757 | 22.85 | 4.34 | 824 v Can at East London 2003 |
| 8 (-1) | Jacob Oram | NZ | 740 | 28.57 | 4.42 | 803 v Aus at The Oval 2004 |
| 9 (-1) | Darren Gough | Eng | 732 | 25.42 | 4.31 | 808 v SA at Johannesburg 2000 |
| 10 (-1) | Andrew Flintoff | Eng | 727 | 23.97 | 4.20 | 797 v Ban at Dhaka 2003 |
