Rankings highlight the job ahead of New Zealand

New Zealand flew out for Sri Lanka today having received a reminder from the monthly player rankings lists of the job they have ahead of them.

Without Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Chris Cairns for the Test series, the side face a big effort to succeed in Sri Lanka.

Just how hard is obvious from the rankings.

Mark Richardson, at No 15, is the only New Zealand batsman in the top 37 places who is touring. Captain Stephen Fleming is at 38. Mathew Sinclair is just behind him at 44.

The bowling is marginally better.

Daryl Tuffey is at No 13 on the world list, with Shane Bond at 18. Daniel Vettori is on 23 and Jacob Oram on 43.

New Zealand are looking to consolidate their placing of third on the International Cricket Council's Test rankings, and to do that they need to beat or draw with the Sri Lankans.

However, if they lose mean they will still retain their position.

As a result of the way the system works, Sri Lanka, to retain the existing gap to New Zealand's third placing need to win the series.

Ideally, New Zealand would like to win because it would increase their chances of whittling back South Africa's position when the two sides meet in New Zealand next summer.

The rankings were:

Batting: Michael Vaughan (England) 1, Matthew Hayden (Australia) 2, Sachin Tendulkar (India) 3, Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 4, Adam Gilchrist (Australia) 5, Ricky Ponting (Australia) 6, Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) 7, Brian Lara (West Indies) 8, Inzamam-ul-Haq 9, Rahul Dravid (India) 10. New Zealanders were: Mark Richardson 15, Nathan Astle 24, Craig McMillan 30, Chris Cairns 36, Stephen Fleming 38, Mathew Sinclair 44.

Bowling: Glenn McGrath (Australia) 1, Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 2, Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 3, Shane Warne (Australia) 4, Harbhajan Singh (India) 5, Andy Caddick (England) 6, Jason Gillespie (Australia) 7, Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 8, Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 9, Shoaib Akhtar 10. New Zealanders were: Daryl Tuffey 13, Chris Cairns 15, Shane Bond 18, Daniel Vettori 23, Shayne O'Connor 33, Jacob Oram 43, Chris Martin 45.