JEROME TAYLOR has been earmarked by his West Indies captain to emerge as the No. 1 fast bowler in the International Cricket Council rankings.

Chris Gayle made the prediction after the conclusion of the Digicel Series against Sri Lanka in which Taylor was impressive in both versions of the game.

"Sometime soon, Jerome is going to be ranked No. 1 in the world. He has been tremendous and energetic," Gayle said.

"His batting is also improving. His all-round cricket is very, very good."

In the two-match Test series, Taylor grabbed 11 wickets (average 24.81) and doubled each of his teammates.

Despite collecting only three wickets in as many One-Day Internationals, his economy rate of 3.88 was the best among both teams and he was the only bowler in the series to concede fewer than four runs an over.

"With the ball, he was tremendous in both forms of the game. It is up to the management team to look after him, monitor him and don't overuse him," Gayle said.

"That goes for everyone. Let's hope they can cope and get the best of the players. We want Jerome to continue in the same vein and keep working hard at his game."

Taylor is at No. 25 in the Test rankings and No. 10 in One-Day Internationals. The highest ranked West Indies bowler in Tests is the inactive Corey Collymore. (HG)