Ponting and Gilchrist join select club after first Test as Bashar, Rafique & Shahriar Nafees move up LG ICC Player Rankings

Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist's hundreds against Bangladesh in Fatullah, innings that ensured a come-from-behind victory for Australia in an epic Test match, have seen the duo join a very select group of batsmen.

By reaching three figures, both Ponting and Gilchrist have now scored hundreds against all of the other nine ICC Members to have played Tests, a feat only previously achieved by Stephen Waugh, Gary Kirsten, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Marvan Atapattu.

So, the innings are hugely significant from a statistical point of view, as well as helping to ensure victory for Australia, but they also have plenty of significance for the LG ICC Player Rankings as well.

Ponting's 118 not out has ensured he remains well clear of South Africa's Jacques Kallis at the top of the batting list and he is now just one rating point short of his best-ever mark, set after twin hundreds against South Africa in Durban last month.

For Gilchrist, who passed 5000 Test runs during his first innings 144, there is the satisfaction of moving back into the top 20 after scoring his first century at the highest level since March 2005 in Wellington, New Zealand. And it means that, once again, Australia have an amazing six batsmen in that top 20.

Those other players are Matthew Hayden (5th), Michael Hussey (9th, with a career-best mark of rating points), Damien Martyn (14th) and the injured Justin Langer (17th).

But the Fatullah Test also showcased some superb performances from Bangladesh players and three of the leading lights in the home side's effort have all made significant progress up the LG ICC Player Rankings.

Left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, whose nine wickets in the match came so close to earning his side victory, is now 26th in the bowling list, up 10 places, and he is comfortably the highest-ranked Bangladesh bowler.

Captain Habibul Bashar, who made 76 in the first innings of the Test, is up two places to 29th in the batting table and, like Rafique, is his country's highest-placed player, while Shahriar Nafees' maiden hundred has propelled him up 45 places to 59th position.

Shane Warne's relatively modest return in the Test - three wickets - has seen him slip to fourth place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, with Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralidaran, Makhaya Ntini of South Africa and team-mate Glenn McGrath now ahead of him.

Brett Lee remains unchanged in 16th place but Stuart MacGill - like Rafique, a player who took nine wickets in the Test - and Jason Gillespie, two players recalled to the Australia line-up, have re-entered the top 20 in 17th and 18th positions respectively.

Lee moved past 1000 Test runs in Fatullah but remains in 13th place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders with Warne the leading Australian in that list in ninth spot.

The all-rounders' table is headed by Kallis ahead of Andrew Flintoff of England (the leading ODI all-rounder).

The remaining Test of the two-match series between Bangladesh and Australia starts in Chittagong on Sunday 16 April.

Full details of the current LG ICC Test Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here