Run-machine Yousuf up to second spot in LG ICC Player Rankings

Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf has climbed to second place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after his memorable innings of 192 against the West Indies at Lahore this week.

Yousuf now has the highest number of ratings points of any Pakistani batsman in history, breaking the 900 barrier for the first time and surpassing Javed Miandad's highest ranking of 885, achieved in February 1989.

He is only the twentieth player in history to top 900 rating points, an indication not only of his quality but also of his current amazing run of form.

Yousuf is the leading run-scorer in the calendar year with 1315 runs from only nine matches. That haul includes six hundreds, one of them the 202 he made against England at Lord's in July.

The elegant right-hander has overtaken India captain Rahul Dravid in the LG ICC Player Rankings and only Australia's Ricky Ponting is now above him. Team-mate Younis Khan remains in fourth place in the listing.

Another big mover following the Lahore Test is Brian Lara, who scored 61 and 122, the first times he has passed 50 in a Test on Pakistan soil.

Those two contributions have lifted the West Indies captain up five places to number eight in LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Yousuf's rise is good news for Pakistan but not so good is the slide of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. He dropped five places to 12th in the batting ladder after collecting a duck at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Seamer Umar Gul is the main mover in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, with his match haul of 9-164 securing him an 11-place rise to 23rd position, his best-ever ranking.

West Indies seamer Corey Collymore drops out of the top ten Test bowlers following a barren Test in Lahore, slipping down one spot to 11th position.

That list is headed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralidaran, clear of Makhaya Ntini of South Africa.

The LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is topped by South Africa's Jacques Kallis ahead of Andrew Flintoff of England.

In the LG ICC Test Championship table, Pakistan is looking to consolidate its hold on third place and has already gone a long way to doing that after its win in Lahore.

But, despite that victory, it still needs to win the series convincingly because, as it is so far ahead of its opponents - 40 points - any victories it secures are worth fewer rating points than successes against the leading sides in the ladder.

A 2-0 series win for Inzamam's side will see it remain on 112 rating points, one point clear of fourth-placed India, while a clean sweep of the series will see Pakistan move to 113, six points behind England, which lies in second spot.

Australia currently heads the LG ICC Test Championship table, 11 points clear of its nearest rivals England while the West Indies team lies in eighth overall.

The remaining matches in the Pakistan - West Indies Test series are as follows:

19 - 23 November - second Test, Multan
27 November - 1 December - third Test, Karachi

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.