Dubai: India's Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, and England's Charlotte Edwards are expected to have a tough competition among themselves for top spot in the Reliance Mobile ODI Player Rankings for women which the ICC will launch next month.

As part of continued promotion of women's cricket, the player rankings, which will initially apply to ODI cricket only, will help identify where the leading players stand and create further competition and context to their achievements, the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.

The first set of the ratings are expected to be released in October, ahead of the eagerly awaited women's series between Australia and India.

Some of the game's stars have backed the development of the rankings, believing it will generate greater interest in women's cricket.

Indian fast bowler and ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2007, Jhulan supported the initiative.

"If there are rankings for women it will be a fantastic thing. I am really looking forward to following the rankings to see who is coming first and second in the list.

"It will increase the competition amongst the players, as everyone will want to be the number one player," Jhulan said.

Australia vice-captain Sthalekar said, "Previously we have only had player-of-the-series awards at major events and the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards to give us any indication of who the best players in the women's game are."

Edwards believes that the introduction of the rankings is timely ahead of an important year for women's cricket in 2009.

"The introduction of a player rankings system for womens ODI cricket is another positive step forward for our game," she said.