Ponting's Brisbane double earns him fifth best all-time rating

Australia captain Ricky Ponting now has the fifth best batting rating of all time in Tests after an outstanding double during the first match of the Ashes series, against England in Brisbane.

Ponting's scores of 196 and an unbeaten 60 not only helped his side to a 277-run win over its oldest rivals but also earned him nine rating points in the LG ICC Player Rankings.

They have lifted him to a new mark of 940 points and only four players in the history of the game - fellow countryman Donald Bradman and the England trio of Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs and Peter May - have achieved a higher rating.

Ponting's first innings hundred was his seventh three-figure score in his last eight Tests and lifted his career tally to 32 in this form of the game, level with former Australia captain Stephen Waugh.

And now only three players, the India duo of Sachin Tendulkar (35) and Sunil Gavaskar (34), and Brian Lara (34), the West Indies captain, have more Test hundreds.

Ponting's outstanding form means that Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf, himself in the best form of his career, has so far been unable to assume top spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

The two players have been trading blows like prizefighters in recent matches, matching each other hundred for hundred and, as the Brisbane Test ended, Yousuf scored yet another hundred to keep the pressure on at the top of the listings.

The elegant right-hander's 102 against the West Indies on the first day of the third Test in Karachi is his eighth Test hundred of 2006 and leaves him within 47 runs of beating Vivian Richards' 1976 mark of 1710 runs, the most ever by a Test batsman in a calendar year.

That innings, together with the performances of the other players involved in the Karachi match, will be reflected in the LG ICC Player Rankings released at its conclusion.

In the meantime, Ponting can bask in a 26-point lead at the head of affairs and he is one of five Australia batsmen inside the top 20 batting places along with Michael Hussey (eighth), Matthew Hayden (ninth), Justin Langer (13th) and Damien Martyn (16th).

But it is not all good news for Australia batsmen as Adam Gilchrist's duck in Brisbane has seen him slip three places to 21st position.

Gilchrist, who in October 2002 occupied the spot now held by Ponting, now has 638 rating points and only twice in the past six years has the left-hander had a lower rating.

Glenn McGrath can reflect on an outstanding comeback to Test cricket after a break of 11 months while he cared for his wife, who was seriously ill.

McGrath's 7-103 has lifted him two places to second position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, overtaking fellow fast bowler Makhaya Ntini and Australia team mate Shane Warne in the process.

Only Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran is now ahead of McGrath, although the margin is significant - 69 rating points - and McGrath will have to maintain his outstanding form if he is to challenge Murali at the top of the list.

McGrath's team-mate Stuart Clark, another bowler who enjoyed success in Brisbane where he took 7-93, is also on the rise. He climbs six places to 28th place, and has a career-best rating.

Only a handful of England players have made upward progress in the LG ICC Player Rankings in the wake of their side's comprehensive first Test loss.

Chief among them is Kevin Pietersen, who has climbed three spots to seventh place, his best-ever ranking. The hard-hitting right-hander, who scored 92 in England's second innings, also passed 1000 Test runs for 2006 during the match, the fifth player to do so and the first for England.

Ian Bell, whose first innings 50 was another bright spot for his side, is another climber, up one place to 25th - another career-best ranking - while Paul Collingwood's innings of 96 has helped him rise to 29th position, a jump of eight places.

Captain Andrew Flintoff - down five places in the batting list, to 37th spot - remains in fifth place in the bowling table, England's leading player. Matthew Hoggard is another non-mover, in eighth place, but Stephen Harmison, whose match figures were 1-177 drops five spots to 15th. Two years ago he occupied top position.

Flintoff remains in second place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, behind South Africa's Jacques Kallis.

England now has it all to do if it is to replace Australia at the head of the LG ICC Test Championship table.

England started the series 11 rating points behind Ponting's side and needs to win by three clear Tests to take over the top spot. Defeat in Brisbane means that only success in the four remaining matches will do in order for that to happen.

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 on the ICC website www.icc-cricket.com.