Morgan, Mendis and Watson are number-one ranked batsman, bowler and all-rounder

Dubai, ICC Media Release, 24 October 2011: England’s Eoin Morgan, Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka and Shane Watson of Australia were announced as the number-one ranked batsman, bowler and all-rounder, respectively in the Reliance ICC T20I Player Rankings which were released in Dubai today (Monday).

In 18 T20Is, Morgan has scored 569 runs at an average of 47.41 and only Matthew Hayden (308 runs at 51.33) and Andrew Symonds (337 runs at 48.14) have better averages than the left-hander. Commenting on the launch of the rankings, the 25-year-old said: “International Twenty20 rankings give players an ideal guide as to how they’re performing in this form of the game.

“From an England perspective it’s great to see a number of colleagues feature in the player rankings and I know they, like all players listed, will be looking to improve their positions and develop their game as we look forward to playing more international Twenty20 cricket ahead of Sri Lanka next year,” he added.

While Morgan is the only batsman to boast a rating of over 800 points on the day of the launch, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Kevin Pietersen of England are both within striking range. Second-ranked McCullum is on 799 ratings points while third-ranked Pietersen, who is likely to face India in Kolkata on Saturday, is sitting on 793 ratings points.

The top 20 list includes four batsmen each from Australia and South Africa and three each from Sri Lanka and India.
Ajantha Mendis, who won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Dubai in 2008, leads the field in the bowlers’ category.

The 26-year-old from Moratuwa is the fourth leading wicket-taker behind Pakistan trio – Shahid Afridi (53), Umar Gul (47) and Saeed Ajmal (45) – with 39 wickets in 20 matches. His bowling figures of six for 16 against Australia in Pallekele on 8 August 2011 stands as the best bowling figures in T20Is to date.

“I feel honoured and humbled to be ranked as the top bowler in a list which includes some of the finest current bowlers,” he said. “While celebrating my number-one ranking, I cannot thank my team-mates enough for their continued support and guidance. If fact, our number-two position on the Championship table illustrates how well we have gelled as a team and consistently produced good performances,” he added.

The salient feature of the bowlers’ ranking is that seven spinners figure inside the top 10. New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, who has recently retired from the shortest version of the game but remains one of the most respected voices in cricket, was impressed with these stats when he said: “I believe spin bowlers have adapted to T20 cricket better than most. “To see spinners succeed in a tough environment is great for the game and means bowlers can enjoy Twenty20 cricket, most of the time!”

Shane Watson leads the all-rounders’ category that also includes three Pakistanis in second-ranked Afridi, fourth-ranked Mohammad Hafeez and 10th-ranked Abdul Razzaq inside the top 10. David Hussey is in third position as the top 10 also includes two South Africans in Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel.

A humble Watson said:  “With so many fantastic players in world cricket it is a great honor to be recognised as the number-one all-rounder in the international Twenty20 cricket. While personal milestones and accolades are nice, our goal as a team is to play more consistent T20 cricket and allow the rankings to take care of themselves.

“The games we play over the Australia summer are a wonderful opportunity to begin this climb and prepare ourselves in the best way possible for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka next year.”

Reliance ICC T20I Rankings (as of 24 October 2011)

Batsmen
Rank      Player                   Team     Pts          Ave         HS Rating
1           Eoin Morgan        Eng         832*      47.41     866 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
2           B.McCullum         NZ          799         36.61     824 v Aus at Christchurch 2010
3           Kevin Pietersen    Eng         793         36.10     873 v Aus at Barbados 2010
4           M. Jayawardene  SL           784         31.76     787 v WI at Barbados 2010
5           Suresh Raina        Ind          742*!    32.00     742 v Eng at Old Trafford 2011
6           T.Dilshan               SL           733         32.07     814 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
7           K. Sangakkara     SL           732        32.37     769 v WI at Barbados 2010
8           Umar Akmal        Pak         714         32.68     716 v Zim at Harare 2011
9           Shane Watson      Aus         701*      26.09     715 v SA at Cape Town 2011
10         Graeme Smith      SA           700         31.67     750 v Zim at Kimberley 2010
11         David Warner       Aus         695         26.72     839 v Ind at Barbados 2010
12         Yuvraj Singh        Ind          668*      31.50     806 v SA at St Lucia 2010
13         JP Duminy            SA           663         31.08     684 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14         Chris Gayle           WI          660         32.47     818 v Ind at Barbados 2010
15         Cameron White   Aus         652         31.60     653 v Pak at Edgbaston 2010
16         Gautam Gambhir                Ind          631         28.22     738 v SL at Mohali 2009
17         Jacques Kallis       SA           627*      34.13     737 v WI at Antigua 2010
18         David Hussey       Aus         625         24.70     716 v Pak at Edgbaston 2010
19         Martin Guptill       NZ          617*!    27.30     617 v Zim at Harare 2011
20         AB de Villiers        SA           515         23.23     574 v WI at Antigua 2010

Bowlers
Rank      Player                   Team     Pts          Avge      Econ      HS Rating
1           Ajantha Mendis   SL           748!       10.89     748 v Aus at Kandy 2011
2           Graeme Swann    Eng         727         17.23     770 v Pak at Cardiff 2010
3           Saeed Ajmal         Pak         721         16.15     766 v SA at St Lucia 2010
4           N.McCullum         NZ          711!       15.03     711 v Zim at Harare 2011
5           Johan Botha         SA           703         20.79     724 v WI at Antigua 2010
6           Shahid Afridi        Pak         689         18.96     819 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
7           Shaun Tait            Aus         682         17.78     782 v Pak at Edgbaston 2010
8           Darren Sammy    WI          671         15.33     688 v Eng at The Oval 2011
9           Harbhajan Singh Ind          653         30.05     706 v WI at Barbados 2010
10         Lasith Malinga     SL           652         20.08     679 v Eng at Bristol 2011
11         Morne Morkel      SA           641         16.28     649 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
12         Mitchell Johnson Aus         638         20.11     718 v WI at St Lucia 2010
13         Stuart Broad         Eng         609         22.18     671 v Pak at Cardiff 2010
14         Shakib Al Hasan Ban        605*!    18.57     605 v WI at Mirpur 2011
15         Dirk Nannes          Net/Aus 601*      16.39     678 v SL at Perth 2010
16         Dale Steyn            SA           599         18.31     690 v WI at Antigua 2010
17         Abdur Razzak      Ban        589*!    16.13     589 v WI at Mirpur 2011
18         Tim Bresnan         Eng         581*!    38.33     581 v WI at The Oval 2011
19         Prosper Utseya     Zim         576*      23.56     578 v NZ at Harare 2011
20         Trent Johnston     Ire           563*!    16.75     563 v Eng at Guyana 2010

All-rounders
Rank      Player                   Team     Pts          HS Rating
1           Shane Watson      Aus         385*/*  400 v SA at Cape Town 2011
2           Shahid Afridi        Pak         339        415 v NZ at Dubai 2009
3           David Hussey       Aus         316 /*   341 v Pak at Edgbaston 2010
4           M.Hafeez              Pak         246*/*! 246 v Zim at Harare 2011
5           Chris Gayle           WI          194 /*   287 v Ind at Barbados 2010
6           Yuvraj Singh        Ind          182*/*  198 v SA at Moses Mabhida 2011
7           Jacques Kallis       SA           179*/*  248 v WI at Antigua 2010
8           T.Dilshan               SL           169 /*   173 v Aus at Kandy 2011
9           Albie Morkel         SA           164*/    220 v Pak at St Lucia 2010
10         Abdul Razzaq      Pak         163*/*  183 v NZ at Christchurch 2010

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after he has scored 600 or more runs; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he bowled 400 deliveries.
!indicates career-highest rating.