Media Release January 26
Astle outside the top 25 going into World Cup
New Zealand does not have one player among the top 25 batsmen in the world according to the latest
PricewaterhouseCoopers one day international cricket ratings.
Astle is the Black Caps' top batsman, at No.27 on the charts, going into next month's World Cup tournament in South
Africa.
Matthew Hayden is now the undisputed No.1 batsman in the world according to the PwC ratings released today.
After the final official one-day game before the World Cup, Hayden has moved to the top of the table which puts him
simultaneously at No.1 in both tests and one dayers. Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Viv Richards are other only other
members of this exclusive batsman's club.
Craig McMillan at 24 and Stephen Fleming at 37 are the only other New Zealand batsmen in the top 40.
Daryl Tuffey at 11th and Scott Styris at 26th are the only Black Caps among the top 30 bowlers.
Top PwC ratings:
Batsmen
Rank Changes since January 14 Player Team Points Average Highest Rating
1 (+3) Matthew Hayden Aus 823 *
45.53 823 v Eng at Melbourne 2003
2 (-1) S.T.Jayasuriya SL 798
32.13 845 v Pak at Lahore 1997
3 ( - ) Yousuf Youhana Pak 757
42.88 776 v Zim at Harare 2002
4 (+1) Virender Sehwag Ind 748
36.32 765 v NZ at Auckland 2003
5 (+1) Chris Gayle WI 738
36.44 771 v Ind at Vadodara 2002
6 (+1) Michael Bevan Aus 734
54.80 874 v Ind at Galle 1999
7 (+2) Jonty Rhodes SA 719
35.31 747 v Pak at Tangier 2002
8 (+2) Adam Gilchrist Aus 715
34.16 758 v Eng at Melbourne 1999
9 (-1) Ricky Ponting Aus 713
41.33 796 v SA at Sydney 2002
10 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 706
44.04 786 v WI at St George's 2001
11 (+1) H.H.Gibbs SA 703
34.80 736 v Ban at Benoni 2002
12 (+2) Andy Flower Zim 697
34.88 697 v Ken at Bulawayo 2002
13 (-11) M.E.Trescothick Eng 696
37.18 759 v Zim at Colombo (RPS) 2002
14 (+1) S.R.Tendulkar Ind 690
43.73 884 v SL at Delhi 1996
15 (+2) Marvan Atapattu SL 688
37.98 715 v Eng at Colombo (SSC) 2001
16 ( - ) Boeta Dippenaar SA 686
42.89 686 v Pak at Cape Town 2002
17 (+1) Damien Martyn Aus 676
40.13 697 v SA at Sydney 2002
18 (-5) Nick Knight Eng 672
41.57 723 v SA at East London 2000
19 ( - ) Brian Lara WI 652
42.64 921 v Aus at Perth 1997
20 (+1) Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 634
39.20 788 v Eng at Karachi 1996
21 (-1) M.Jayawardene SL 630
32.01 753 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001
22 ( - ) Rahul Dravid Ind 626
38.39 733 v Pak at Manchester 1999
23 ( - ) Lance Klusener SA 625
42.72 845 v Zim at Nairobi 1999
24= ( - ) Sourav Ganguly Ind 624
42.33 854 v SA at Vadodara 2000
( - ) R.R.Sarwan WI 624
* 51.04 627 v Ban at Dhaka 2002
26 (+1) Carl Hooper WI 616
35.84 769 v SA at East London 1999
27 (+1) Nathan Astle NZ 600
34.14 763 v Aus at Napier 2000
Bowlers
Rank Change Player Team Points Average Economy Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shaun Pollock SA 910
22.88 3.77 911 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 (+1) M.Muralitharan SL 893
23.10 3.83 934 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
3 (-1) Glenn McGrath Aus 864
22.85 3.91 925 v SA at Bloemfontein 2002
4 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 789
24.86 4.22 790 v SL at Centurion 2002
5 (+3) Brett Lee Aus 762
22.48 4.70 762 v Eng at Melbourne 2003
6 (-1) Wasim Akram Pak 759
23.69 3.89 881 v Zim at Rawalpindi 1993
7 (+7) Andrew Caddick Eng 716
29.29 4.01 738 v Ban at Nairobi 2000
8 (-2) Jason Gillespie Aus 715
25.80 4.37 785 v Ban at Colombo (SSC) 2002
9 (-3) Chaminda Vaas SL 714
28.29 4.23 804 v Ind at Mumbai 1997
10 (-1) Harbhajan Singh Ind 704
29.03 4.22 768 v WI at Bridgetown 2002
11 ( - ) Daryl Tuffey NZ 698
* 28.53 4.55 698 v Ind at Hamilton 2003
12 (-2) Shane Warne Aus 694
25.82 4.25 839 v WI at Mohali 1996
13 (-1) Javagal Srinath Ind 689
28.35 4.46 782 v SL at Singapore 1996
14 (-1) Allan Donald SA 687
21.37 4.13 824 v Aus at Melbourne 1998
15 ( - ) Saqlain Mushtaq Pak 671
21.64 4.28 835 v WI at Sydney 1997
16 ( - ) Zaheer Khan Ind 670
26.51 4.77 721 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2002
17 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 659
29.73 4.65 682 v Zim at Johannesburg 2000
18 (-1) Darren Gough Eng 655
25.17 4.31 808 v SA at Johannesburg 2000
19 ( - ) Waqar Younis Pak 650
23.82 4.67 803 v WI at Johannesburg 1993
20 ( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 647
21.00 4.50 732 v Aus at Brisbane 2002
21 ( - ) Mervyn Dillon WI 642
29.21 4.54 695 v Ind at Toronto 1999
22 (+21) Andy Bichel Aus 637 *
33.59 4.49 637 v Eng at Melbourne 2003
23 (-1) Shahid Afridi Pak 630
39.12 4.58 648 v SA at East London 2002
24 (-1) Ajit Agarkar Ind 613
28.73 5.12 671 v SL at Pune 1999
25 ( - ) Heath Streak Zim 612
31.13 4.56 743 v Pak at Sharjah 1997
26 ( - ) Scott Styris NZ 607
34.01 4.89 607 v Ind at Hamilton 2003
Ends
Media advisory: for further information contact Kip Brook, Word of
Mouth Media NZ 03 374 5426