Ponting and Murali lead the way

With most of the cricketing world taking a break after a hectic season, it's unsurprising that there are few changes in the top ten lists for batsmen and bowlers. What's interesting is that in the space of four games, Ramnaresh Sarwan has jumped 13 places to eighth spot, leapfrogging Brian Lara and Michael Bevan, who was recently omitted from the list of contracted Australian players. After a duck in the first match, Sarwan scored 216 in the next four games, with a series average of 108. Trescothick was another big achiever, jumping three spots to number six after a stunning return to form that helped England draw the one-day series. The top three, however, remained the same, and unless Trescothick does something truly spectacular during the one-dayers against New Zealand, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar look set to hold on to their position.

Muttiah Muralitharan's five-for against Zimbabwe took him even further ahead of the pack, with a seventeen-point gap between him and the next spot, which belongs to Chaminda Vaas. The top ten bowlers remain in their positions, except for Andrew Flintoff, who falls a spot to eighth, and Jacob Oram, who rises, by default, to number seven.