Lara and Murali on top

After an action-packed week of Test cricket, Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid rose to the top of the PwC Ratings due to their double-hundreds, while Ricky Ponting dropped a notch after scoring 242 in a losing cause. Matthew Hayden fell off his perch at the top after an indifferent showing in the Adelaide Test. Jacques Kallis(+8), Michael Vaughan(+7), and VVS Laxman(+5) were the biggest gainers after their significant hundreds assisted the team's cause.

Sachin Tendulkar drops out of the top ten for the first time since 1993, following a poor run of form since the Test series in New Zealand in 2002-03. But his fall coincides with the stunning form of batsmen around the world. Adam Gilchrist, Graham Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, Lara, Dravid, Hayden, Ponting, and Vaughan have all been prolific on the international circuit.

Muttiah Muralitharan and Shaun Pollock continue to occupy the top spots after good showings against England and West Indies. Makhaya Ntini returns to the top ten list after a nine-wicket haul against West Indies, while Ajit Agarkar rises 16 places to 41, and achieves his PwC high of 389 points after a splendid bowling performance in the Adelaide Test.

Stuart MacGill's drop from the list can be attributed equally to poor bowling and good batting by India. Unable to take advantage of a fifth-day track that turned viciously, MacGill was taken apart by the batsmen on their way to a famous victory. It was the kind of batting that provoked MacGill to say, "It's not as if they know what I am bowling, it's almost as if they don't really seem to care what I am bowling."

For the full rankings, click here.