Gayle forces his way up to 11th in LG Player Rankings for ODI batsmen

Chris Gayle of the West Indies has moved up five places in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen following a very successful trip to England and Ireland for the 27-year-old all-rounder.

The stand-in captain of the West Indies' one-day side has led from the front during the tour averaging 86.67 with the bat, having scored 260 runs in five innings. He now stands in 11th position in the rankings, level with South Africa's Jacques Kallis.

In a tightly packed table, Gayle is now just four rating points behind team-mate Ramnaresh Sarwan, who missed the series due to injury, five behind Proteas captain Graeme Smith and six short of Australia's Andrew Symonds.

In all, just 17 rating points separate fifth position (Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India) and 13th position (Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena), confirming just how competitive the player rankings are at present.

As such, with Sri Lanka about to embark on a three-ODI series at home to Bangladesh, there will be plenty of opportunities for Jayawardena to put pressure on the others.

Indeed, Jayawardena's team-mates Kumar Sangakkara (17th) and Sanath Jayasuriya (14th) can also make further progress up the ladder.

West Indies fast bowler Daren Powell was one of the success stories of his team's tour to Ireland and England and he is now in 16th position having moved up another three places in the latest LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

There is little other movement in the top 20 with Shaun Pollock of South Africa still out in front, from Nathan Bracken of Australia in second spot and New Zealand's Shane Bond in third.

Following a disappointing Test campaign for Bangladesh, the ODI series in Sri Lanka presents an ideal opportunity for Mohammad Ashraful's men to restore some pride and confidence as they search for the form that enabled them to beat India and South Africa at the ICC Cricket World Cup earlier this year.

In particular, Abdur Razzak can continue his impressive rise up the order. The first player from Bangladesh ever to make it into the top ten of any of the three lists is currently in ninth position in the bowling rankings and he has the likes of Australia speedster Brett Lee and Black Caps' slow left-armer Daniel Vettori in his sights.

There is no change in the top five of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders with Pollock still in first position from team-mate Kallis in second spot and Gayle third.

In terms of the LG ICC ODI Championship Sri Lanka will move level with Pakistan on points if it beats Bangladesh 3-0 in the series, although Shoaib Malik's team will retain fourth spot when the rating is calculated past the decimal point.

However, if the home side loses or draws the series it will drop below India into sixth position.

Upcoming ODI matches:

20 July - first ODI, Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Colombo (PSS)
23 July - second ODI, Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Colombo (RPS)
25 July - third ODI, Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Colombo (RPS)