Monty Panesar is the highest rated England spinner in 30 years

London, June 20 (UNI) The first Sikh to play for England, Monty Panesar's rise up the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers continues apace following another top performance in the fourth Test against the West Indies.

The 25-year-old has moved into the top ten for the first time in his career and is now the highest rated England spinner since Derek Underwood in 1977.

It is a remarkable achievement considering he was ranked 33rd at the beginning of the series against the West Indies.

In the four-match series just concluded Panesar took 23 wickets at an average of 18.69 and following the final Test at Chester-le-Street moved up six more places.

He is now ranked joint-sixth in the world along with England team-mate Matthew Hoggard.

Currently on 721 ratings points, the slow left-armer still has some way to go to being the top-rated England spinner of all time, however. That honour remains with Surrey legend Tony Lock, who reached 912 ratings points during a home series against New Zealand in 1958.

With three Tests coming up against India, Panesar is just one rating point behind Shane Bond in fifth and nine behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa and India's Anil Kumble in joint third.

England's Ryan Sidebottom is another England bowler to benefit during the series and is now ranked 42nd, having moved up another spot following the fourth Test.

Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka is still the highest ranked Test bowler in the world with South Africa's Makhaya Ntini in second.

Although the West Indies lost the series in England 3-0, star batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, following his 136 not out and 70 in the fourth Test, has moved up another three places in the Rankings for Test batsmen and is back into the top ten.

Chanderpaul's team-mate all-rounder Dwayne Bravo moved up 12 places in the batting rankings to 27th position, the highest of his career to date.

Australia's Ricky Ponting still tops the list with Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan in second place.

India are placed 4th in the team's test ranking with 107 points, while Australia continues to top the leaderboard with 114 points followed by England (114) and Pakistan (108).

UNI