Lee and Gilchrist top LG ICC ODI rankings

Australia fast bowler Brett Lee has climbed to first position in the LG ICC ODI bowling rankings with the highest rating of his career, while Adam Gilchrist has replaced Ricky Ponting at the top of the batting table.

Lee's success in the VB Series - he is the leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets at 19.40 - has seen him accumulate enough ranking points to overtake Glenn McGrath in the bowling standings and hold off a challenge from Shaun Pollock who was the most economical bowler in the tri-series and has climbed to second position.

Gilchrist, meanwhile, has reclaimed the top batting spot after plundering 284 runs at a strike rate of 108.39. He is one of five Australian batsmen now in the top 10 along with Ponting (2nd), Andrew Symonds (7th), Mike Hussey (8th) and Michael Clarke (9th).

Hussey is the newest member of this quintet, joining the top echelons of the table after only 29 ODIs. His 18-place rise over the course of this series on the back of 259 runs at 64.75 caps a tremendous week in which he was also named Australia's ODI player of the year.

Going into the final, Australia remain top of the LG ICC ODI Championship table while Sri Lanka are seventh. This is the same position that Sri Lanka occupied coming into the series but they have improved their rating by a point and success in the finals would see them climb to fifth.

Defeat in the final, however, will see Sri Lanka face the very real prospect of having to play in the preliminary round of this year's ICC Champions Trophy in India as if they are still seventh on 1 April* then they will have to play in the preliminary round for the right to take part in the next round of the tournament.

In the finals Sri Lanka will be looking for important contributions with the bat from the rejuvenated Sanath Jayasuriya whose 262 runs have lifted him back into the top 20 (14th) and Kumar Sangakkara, up four places to 4th.

South Africa's series ended in disappointment and they have slipped to third in the LG ICC ODI Championship table. Captain Graeme Smith has retained third spot in the batting rankings despite his poor run of form but he is one of only two South Africans in the top twenty. Boeta Dippenaar has climbed 15 places over the course of the series to 16th but Herschelle Gibbs has slipped five places to 22nd and Jacques Kallis is down 11 to 24th.

The updated rankings also include the first match of Pakistan's home series against India. Salman Butt's century lifted him into the top 50 (up 7 places to 47th) for the first time while Irfan Pathan batting display boosted him into the top five ODI all-rounders.

Full details of the current LG ICC ODI Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here

* India, as hosts, will automatically qualify for the second stage of next year's ICC Champions Trophy even if they are outside the top six of the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April 2006. If they are outside that top six then the sixth-placed side in the table will take part in the preliminary round.