Windies' Taylor breaks into top 10 in ICC bowlers' chart

Dubai, Dec 11 (UNI) West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor has broken into the top 10 of the LG ICC ODI bowlers chart for the first time in his career following an exceptional performance in Zimbabwe.

Taylor took 11 wickets in four ODIs at an average of 13.72 and was the stand-out bowler for the West Indies team in a five-match series it won 3-1, with the fifth and final ODI being washed out.

In the process, he rose no fewer than 13 places and now ranks in 10th position, narrowly ahead of Sri Lanka's Farveez Maharoof and just behind Brett Lee of Australia and South Africa's Makhaya Ntini.

With more ODIs coming up in the New Year against the Proteas, the 23-year-old Taylor has a great opportunity to make further progress and stamp a lasting mark on the rankings.

Taylor's team-mate Daren Powell also had a good series, taking six wickets at 26.50, and he has moved up one place in the bowling rankings to 14th place.

But the news is not so good for all the West Indies team with captain Chris Gayle slipping three places in the ODI batsmen rankings to 15th position.

The skipper suffered an injury to his right hamstring and only played in two ODIs during the Zimbabwe leg of the ongoing tour of Southern Africa.

He had started the tour quite well, making 58 in the second ODI at Harare before having to retire hurt. To make matters worse, Gayle has also dropped one place to fourth spot in the ICC player rankings for ODI all-rounders.

For Zimbabwe, despite losing the series, captain Prosper Utseya managed to progress three places up the ODI bowlers chart to 29th position while 24-year-old Hamilton Masakadza is also making good progress, having gained 18 places to 80th position on the batsmen's ladder, the highest ranking of his career to date.

Elton Chigumbura has not been so fortunate, however, as he has dropped eight places to 47th spot in batsmen's rankings following a relatively disappointing series with the bat for the talented all-rounder.

Although he has been knocked off top spot in the Test batsmen chart by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, Australia captain Ricky Ponting is still out in front of the ODI rankings, ahead of team-mates Andrew Symonds in second place and Matthew Hayden third.

In the ODI bowling rankings, the addition of Taylor at the expense of Maharoof is the only change in the top 10 with Shaun Pollock of South Africa still way out in front at the top with Shane Bond of New Zealand in second spot and Australia's Nathan Bracken in third place.

Pollock also leads in the ICC ODI all-rounders' list from Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya in second place and England's Andrew Flintoff third.

LG ICC ODI Top 10 Batsmen: 1. Ricky Ponting Aus (788); 2. Andrew Symonds (Aus) 765; 3. Matthew Hayden (Aus) 755; 4. Kevin Pietersen (Eng) 748; 5. Mohd Yousuf (Pak) 742; 6. Graeme Smith (SA) 741; 7. Mike Hussey (Aus) 740; 8. Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) 736; Herschelle Gibbs (SA) 736; 10. Shivanarine Chanderpaul (WI) 725 Top 10 Bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA) 863; 2. Shane Bond (NZ) 778; 3. Nathan Bracken (Aus) 757; 4. Chaminda Vaas (SL) 717; 5. Daniel Vettori (NZ) 716; 6. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) 712; 7. Brad Hogg (Aus) 674; 8. Makhaya Ntini (SA) 672; 9. Brett Lee (Aus) 670; 10. Jerome Taylor (WI) 665 Top 5 All-rounders: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA) 481; 2. Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) 363; 3. Andrew Flintoff (Eng) 354; 4. Chris Gayle (WI) 353; 5. Jacques Kallis (SA) 326 UNI