LONDON, CMC:
OPENING BATSMAN Chris Gayle is the only West Indian with a top-10 rating in the last release of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) one-day international world rankings before next month's World Cup.
Gayle is number five on the batting list, which is now headed by Australian Matthew Hayden, also the PwC's number one in Test cricket.
Hayden joins West Indians Sir Vivian Richards and Brian Lara, and India's Sachin Tendulkar, as the only batsmen in the history of the PwC ratings to hold the top spot in Test and one-day cricket simultaneously.
The PwC Ratings for limited overs cricket are calculated on a scale of 0 to 1000 points, and give batsmen significant credit for scoring runs quickly, while bowlers are given credit for economy as well as taking wickets.
The 23-year-old Gayle had an outstanding 2002 season in one-day internationals, capturing man-of-the-series awards at home against New Zealand, and on tour in India, each time topping the aggregate for all batsmen.
He scored 455 runs, including three centuries, to help the West Indies clinch their seven-match series in India 4-3, and is up one place from the last PwC Ratings.
Hayden jumped three places in the latest rankings to displace Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya as the world's number one, with Pakistan's Yousuf Youhana at three, followed by India's Virender Sehwag and Gayle.
South Africa's Shaun Pollock keeps the top spot among the bowlers, followed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and Glen McGrath of Australia, with South African Makhaya Ntini at four, and Australian Brett Lee at five.
