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Lara ... made a record 400 not out against England.PERTH, Australia (AP):
AUSTRALIA GET stronger. The rest are chasing second place.
When the Australians conquered their final frontier with a first Test series win in India in 35 years, they became so dominant in the cricket rankings that they would have to start losing the bulk of their matches for anyone to catch up.
Australia had 130 points in the International Cricket Council championship ahead of their current series against Pakistan and second-place England had 109 after winning 10 of their 11 matches leading into the ongoing five-Test series in South Africa.
Such is the jostling, that England need to win the South African series to hold second place.
Australia, who crushed Pakistan by 491 runs in the first Test in Perth at the weekend, could fall flat until the next Ashes series and still hold the No. 1 spot.
But that's unlikely to happen. The Aussies are unbeaten at home in 12 years and have lost only three series away in seven years.
"The side's full of great players ... full of guys who've got a lot of pride in their own and the team's performance," says Ricky Ponting, who replaced Stephen Waugh as Test captain in January.
10,000 TEST RUNS
Waugh finished with 32 Test centuries and more than 10,000 Test runs.
The biggest challenge for Australia in 2004 was India on the subcontinent. What had been trumpeted as 'THE' Test series of this generation, ended squarely in Australia's favour in October and India dropped from No. 2 in the ICC rankings to No. 3.
The Indians won the fourth Test on a wildly turning pitch, but the damage had been done when Australia clinched the series in the third Test for a 2-0 buffer.
The Bombay loss was Australia's only defeat in 14 Tests, including home-and-away series wins against Sri Lanka, a home-series win over New Zealand and the start of a three-Test series against Pakistan.
England were the big movers, usurping India at No. 2 ahead of the South Africa series after a 4-0 sweep of the West Indies at home to equal a national record seven consecutive Test wins.
Skipper Michael Vaughan said while the recent run had been amazing, he was reluctant to compare England with Australia just yet.
"The best team in the world, Australia, have got two (bowlers) with 500 wickets, their top seven (batsmen) average 45-plus, and the whole side is experienced," he said. "We haven't got that yet but we do have the talent to maybe achieve that."
BIGGEST SLIDE
The South Africans had the biggest slide, slipping from No. 2 for the first time since rankings were introduced to No. 6.
There was some concern over bias in selection for the Proteas, but nothing as divisive as the problems in Zimbabwe, which led to 15 white players boycotting a home series against Sri Lanka. Heath Streak was fired as captain and Zimbabwe lost their Test status, although they were allowed to continue in limited-overs internationals and hosted Australia and England.
England have improved behind the coming of age of big allrounder Andrew Flintoff and the pace of Steve Harmison, emerging as the only lineup capable of beating the Australians.
Cricket's oldest rivals will square off when England host the Ashes series for 2005, with Australia defending a winning sequence that extends back to 1989.
Vaughan, who unsettled the Australian bowlers in the last Ashes series, became England captain in May when Nasser Hussain quit during the New Zealand series.
Hussain's departure created space for South Africa-born Andrew Strauss, who hit hundreds in his debut Tests against three nations and joined an elite group who have posted hundreds on home and away Test debuts when he belted 126 in the first Test at Port Elizabeth.
Michael Clarke achieved the same thing for Australia, scoring a century on debut in India and then at home against New Zealand.
He's added youth and enthusiasm to the Australian team, where the average age is about 30.
Veteran paceman Glenn McGrath returned from 12 months off with injuries to regain his place as Australia's premier new-ball bowler, boosting his career total to 472 Test wickets with a record 8-24 against Pakistan at the WACA.
Sourav Ganguly guided India to a win in their first Test series in Pakistan in 15 years. India closed their year with a 2-0 win in Bangladesh, where Sachin Tendulkar equalled compatriot Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test hundreds in the 2-0 series win in Bangladesh.
Shane Warne returned from a 12-month doping ban to increase the record for Test wickets to 555 after the first Test against Pakistan, making the most of Muttiah Muralitharan's (532 wickets) injury-enforced absence.
TOP OF THE LIST
Australian opener Justin Langer was almost a certainty to top the batting list, having amassed 1,426 with one Test remaining in the year. His 191 and 97 against Pakistan helped him overtake West Indian Brian Lara (1,178).
Lara regained a batting record, his 400 not out against England in April eclipsing Matt Hayden's 380 vs. Zimbabwe as the biggest innings of all time.
The West Indies also had some success in the shorter-version of the game, beating England in the ICC Champions Trophy final in August.
A negative trend was the number of bowlers reported for illegal actions during 2004. Indian cricket was shocked as spinner Harbhajan Singh joined Muralitharan and four more bowlers reported to the ICC and ordered to correct their actions.
