Australia can regain top spot from SA in LG ICC ODI Championship

Australia can regain top spot in the LG ICC ODI Championship if it beats England in Antigua on Sunday.

Even if South Africa beats Bangladesh the day before, Ricky Ponting's side will move back up to number one if it can overcome Michael Vaughan and his men at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. However, that might only last two days as the Proteas will have the chance to snatch it back providing they can defeat the West Indies in Grenada on Tuesday.

That is how close it remains at the top of the ODI Championship. As such, whichever team gets further in the ICC Cricket World Cup between South Africa and Australia is likely to be the one to finish the tournament in top position.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has moved past Pakistan into fourth in the table following its thrilling two-run victory over England in Antigua on Wednesday and Mahela Jayawardene's team now has New Zealand in its sights. And despite that defeat, England is still just two ratings points behind India and can move up to sixth if it has a strong finish to the tournament.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Australia has demonstrated its dominance once again and now boasts six players in the top 15. Following his remarkable spell of recent form Matthew Hayden has jumped up 11 places to eighth position, breaking into the top ten for the first time since June 2005.

South Africa's Jacques Kallis is also back in the top ten for the first time since 2005 as he moves up nine places to seventh and there are also big moves for Sanath Jayasuriya (up three places to fourth) and Stephen Fleming (up six places to 19th).

At the top England batsman Kevin Pietersen has stretched his lead over Ricky Ponting in second and Michael Hussey in third. There are also career-best rankings for Ian Bell of England, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chamara Silva of Sri Lanka, Brendan McCullum of New Zealand and Australia's Shane Watson.

Shane Bond's quest to become the best bowler in the world was boosted in recent weeks as he has closed the gap on Shaun Pollock at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. Second-placed Bond has been showing great form in the tournament so far but he still has a long way to go to catch Pollock.

Australian veteran Glenn McGrath has moved up two places to third while team-mate Nathan Bracken has snuck into the top five with a fine start to the tournament for the New South Wales left-arm pace bowler.

Interestingly, the top eight one-day bowlers in the latest LG Rankings are split evenly between the top four ranked teams with two each for South Africa (Pollock and Makhaya Ntini) Australia (McGrath and Bracken), New Zealand (Bond and Daniel Vettori) and Sri Lanka (Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralidaran).

New Zealand's Jacob Oram has moved up 14 places to 15th in the ladder while there are also career-best rankings for Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka, South Africa's Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt, and West Indies' Daren Powell.

Ireland's bowlers have also been making their presence felt. Andre Botha has now established himself inside the top 100 and Boyd Rankin is the big mover, having gained 73 places up to 141st following impressive performances against England and South Africa.

Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya has overtaken Chris Gayle and Andrew Flintoff to move into second position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders. Top spot is still occupied by Pollock.

Jacob Oram is up to sixth - his best all-rounder ranking - while Scott Styris returns to the top 10 after a few months' absence. Of the eight highest rated all-rounders, South Africa, England and New Zealand have two each.