It's a batsman's game

The latest PwC ratings have confirmed something that has been abundantly clear throughout a winter of huge scores. It's a batsman's game at the moment.

Until two years ago, 700 points in the PwC Ratings would be sufficient to secure a place in the world top ten. For batsmen, this is no longer the case: 17 batsmen are currently above this level, and an unprecedented seven are above 800 points (normally the level of the world top three). World batting has probably never been stronger.

In contrast, only eight bowlers have more than 700 points, although one of them - Muttiah Muralitharan - has topped the 900 mark. The current spate of injuries ahigh injury rate among fast bowlers is likely to be an important one. Half of the fast bowlers in the top twenty have missed significant numbers of Tests because of injury problems.

Of the players who appear in the PwC top ten for Test batting or bowling, 13 come from Australia, India or South Africa. (If Warne returns to the Test arena, that will become 14).

The once dominant West Indies now have only Brian Lara in either top twenty. West Indies bowling has still not recovered from the retirement of Walsh and Ambrose three years ago, with none of the current fast bowlers a guaranteed selection. With England's bowling attack also short on penetration, the forthcoming Caribbean series could be a batsman's paradise

Rank	Bowler	Points
1	M. Muralitharan	908
2	Shoaib Akhtar	861
3	Shaun Pollock	859
4	Glenn McGrath	798
5	Makhaya Ntini	798
6	Jason Gillespie	766
7	Anil Kumble	651
8	Daryl Tuffey	721
6	Harbhajan Singh	655
10	Chaminda Vaas	629