Jayasuriya made a magnificent 340 against India at Colombo at the beginning of August - the fourth highest individual score in Test history - while his partnership of 576 with Roshan Mahanama smashed the previous Test record of 467. His average over the last two years now stands at 64.82 to Steve Waugh's 62.17.
''It was a phenomenal performance,'' said Steven Lynch, managing editor of WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY. ''Jayasuriya banished any notion that he is just a one-day player, batting for over 13 hours without giving a chance. He certainly deserves his high position.''
Jayasuriya gained instant fame last year when he starred in Sri Lanka's successful World Cup campaign, collecting the prize for the tournament's Most Valued Player. He became the first man to be named as one of Widen's Five Cricketers of the Year without taking part in the English season.
He is a new entry in the chart because that match at Colombo took him past the qualification threshold of ten Tests in the last two years. In third place is the unsung Pakistani right-hander Ijaz Ahmed, while Australia's hard-hitting opener Matthew Elliott is another new entry at No. 4.
Allan Donald retains his number one position in the bowling table with an average of 19.65, just ahead of Wasim Akram and Glenn McGrath.
Performances since the beginning of the 1995 season are taken into account by the WCM Saffery Champness World Rankings, the only system based on actual Test-match averages.