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Punter Leads the Pack

Thursday, April 8 2004

Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has been named as the leading cricketer in the world over the year 2003 as Wisden announced its annual top 5 cricketers of the year and the inaugural top 40 international players of the year.

Ponting, who recently took out the Allan Border Medal as Australia's top cricketer over 2003, was an obvious choice for the first award of its kind following a dominant calendar year.

Captaining the Australian side to victory in the World Cup, he was the first player since Donald Bradman to score 3 double centuries in a calendar year at Test level. His dominance over the cricket world was amplified as he claimed a clean-sweep victory in Sri Lanka in his maiden series as Test captain.

Wisden again took a distinctly English look in naming their five cricketers of the year: Chris Adams, Andrew Flintoff, Ian Harvey, Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten.

Adams captained Sussex to their maiden county championship title amid a stellar season personally. Flintoff, meanwhile, took his game to a new level in the English side while Australian all-rounder Harvey was acknowledged for his service in county cricket.

Smith and Kirsten were both dominant for South Africa against England during their summer of 2003. Kirsten's acknowledgement co-insides with his retirement from the game at international level.

While Ponting was named the world's number 1 cricketer, the remaining 39 players were named in alphabetical order - failing to hint at any sort of pecking order.

Wisden's Top Forty Cricketers of 2003:
1. Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Michael Bevan (Australia)
Andy Bichel (Australia)
Mark Boucher (South Africa)
Rahul Dravid (India)
Stephen Fleming (New Zealand)
Andrew Flintoff (England)
Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa)
Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
Jason Gillespie (Australia)
Matthew Hayden (Australia)
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
Michael Kasprowicz (Australia)
Gary Kirsten (South Africa)
Anil Kumble (India)
Justin Langer (Australia)
Brian Lara (West Indies)
VVS Laxman (India)
Brett Lee (Australia)
Darren Lehmann (Australia)
Stuart MacGill (Australia)
Glenn McGrath (Australia)
Damien Martyn (Australia)
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
Mushtaq Ahmed (Pakistan)
Makhaya Ntini (South Africa)
Shaun Pollock (South Africa)
Mark Richardson (New Zealand)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Virender Sehwag (India)
Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan)
Graeme Smith (South Africa)
Heath Streak (Zimbabwe)
Sachin Tendulkar (India)
Marcus Trescothick (England)
Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka)
Michael Vaughan (England)
Steve Waugh (Australia)
Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan).

Wisden's Five Cricketers of 2003:

Chris Adams
Andrew Flintoff
Ian Harvey
Graeme Smith
Gary Kirsten.

Posted by Andre