CEAT Cricket Rating 2003-04 - Lara on top, Dravid 11th

Brian Lara, the craftsman from the Caribbean, may have conceded the world record for the highest individual score in Test cricket to Matthew Hayden, but he continues to have an adge over the Australian in the CEAT Cricket Rating for 2003-2004. His innings of 202 against South Africa at Johannesburg gave him 17 batting points and increased his tally of points to 88, 19 more than Hayden’s 69. Hayden shares the second spot with another batsman not unused to making huge scores, Ricky Ponting. Hayden’s best performance of the CEAT Year has been his record-breaking 380 against Zimbabwe at Perth. Ponting, previous year’s topper of the CEAT Cricket Rating, has scored over 1000 runs in the calendar year of 2003.

The Indians played their first international match of the CEAT Year only in October, five months after the year commenced on 1st May 2003. Hence, they have not yet made their presence felt despite their fine showing in the triangular series at home and at Adelaide in the ongoing Test series against Australia. Rahul Dravid, the main architect of the victory at Adelaide with his second double hundred in four Tests, is presently ranked 11th with 47 points. India is ranked seventh in the CEAT Team Rating with 13 points, 59 short of toppers Australia. Current form indicates that India will dominate both the individual and team rating in the remainder of the CEAT Year that will end on 30th April 2004. The Indian team will be playing two more Tests and a triangular series in Australia, followed by what promises to be an exciting tour of Pakistan in Feb-March 2004.

Lara, who topped the CEAT Cricket Rating in its first year in 1995-96, reigns supreme in the batting and fielding rating with 76 and 12 points respectively. The bowling rating is topped by Sri Lankan spin-whiz Muttiah Muralitharan, who emulated Lara in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Instituted in 1995-96, the CEAT Cricket Rating is in its ninth year. Previous winners of the CCR International Cricketer of the Year Award are Brian Lara (1995-96), Venkatesh Prasad (1996-97), Jacques Kallis (1998-99), Sourav Ganguly (1999-00), Muttiah Muralitharan (2000-01 and 2001-02) and Ricky Ponting (2002-03). The Team of the Year Award has been won by Pakistan (1996-97), South Africa (1998-99 and 2000-01) and Australia (1997-98, 1999-00, 2001-02 and 2002-03).