Astle is the only Black Caps batsman in the top 10, although Roger Twose has climbed to 12th, his highest position.

Chris Cairns is New Zealand's best one-day bowler on 20th place with South Africa's Lance Klusener.

Glenn McGrath has replaced Shaun Pollock at the top of the bowlers' list after Australia's crushing victory over Pakistan in the World Series finals.

Australian middle-order batsman Michael Bevan continues to top the batting ratings.

Australia has four batsmen in the top 10. By contrast, only four of the England team that played in Zimbabwe are in the top 100 - Nick Knight, Graeme Hick, skipper Nasser Hussain, and 86th placed Mark Ealham. That reflects or perhaps explains why England's batting is fragile in so many games.

New Zealand has four batsmen in the top 30, including skipper Stephen Fleming who has jumped five places to 26th.

The top batting side according to the ratings is Australia, then India and South Africa. In contrast to its great team of the 1980s, the West Indies is poorly represented in the batting, with out-of-form Brian Lara its top batsman at 16.