Smith moves towards the top

Mumbai, 5th August 2003: Graeme Smith’s back-to-back scores of 277, 85 and 259 in two Test matches against England made him only the fourth batsman in Test history after Bradman, Hammond and Kambli to score double hundreds in consecutive matches. The three innings also yielded him an astonishing 42 points and the top spot in the CEAT Batting rating. Smith’s present tally of 47 batting points is six more than that of Brian Lara, another flamboyant left-hander who like the South African, believes in leading by example.

Lara, who had a fabulous series against the Australians and followed it up with some rousing performances against the Sri Lankans, however retains his place at the top of the overall CEAT Cricket Rating, with 51 points. Smith is only three points behind.

Aussie leg-spinner Stuart MacGill made the most out of the opportunity to bowl to the lowly Bangladeshis in a Test and one-day series. He currently tops the bowling ratings with 35 points, three ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan who topped the overall CEAT Cricket Rating in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Australia lead the CEAT Team Rating with 39 points. India is not represented in either the individual or the team rating as the Indian team has not played any international cricket in the CEAT Year that commenced on 1st May 2003. The Indian players will enter the scheme of things on 8th October, when they take the field for the first Test against the visiting New Zealanders.

Instituted in 1995-96, the annual CEAT Cricket Rating takes into account performances in Tests and One-day internationals from 1st May to 30th April. The individual and team rating was topped in 2002-03 by Ricky Ponting and ‘Team Australia’ respectively.