DoG's Top 100 Test Batsmen - The Top 25

[Days of Grace]

I love it how 7 decades are covered in the top 10.

 

[The Sean]

It's so awesome that after 135+ years of Test cricket and 83,567 individual batting innings, the very first innings in the history of the game is still rated statistically in the top four.

I shouldn't be surprised that you know this number but somehow I still am

Meh, he'll write the exact number of Test innings played but simplifies 136 years and five months of Test cricket down to "135+ years"? Cribb clearly just phoning it in for the fanboys now.

 

[Prince EWS]

Meh, he'll write the exact number of Test innings played but simplifies 136 years and five months of Test cricket down to "135+ years"? Cribb clearly just phoning it in for the fanboys now.

Deliberate irony.

 

[Days of Grace]

9. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) (2000-present day)

Career Length (Days): 4622
Percentage of team's matches played: 98%
Career Average: 56.98
Adjusted career average: 52.12
Adjusted away average: 47.92
Adjusted top-opposition average: 49.33
Top Tier centuries: 5
Second tier centuries: 8
Third tier centuries: 9
Significant innings: 45 (rank 9th=)
Significant innings per match: 0.38

Great innings: 9 (rank 2nd=)
Final: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore, Mar 6-10, 2002 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 14.84
2nd Test: Sri Lanka v South Africa at Colombo (SSC), Aug 11-15, 2004 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 14.70
1st Test: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Christchurch, Dec 7-9, 2006 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 15.67
2nd Test: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Wellington, Dec 15-18, 2006 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 19.08
2nd Test: Australia v Sri Lanka at Hobart, Nov 16-20, 2007 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 15.02
1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy, Dec 1-5, 2007 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 17.23 (1st Inns)
1st Test: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi, Oct 18-22, 2011 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 16.15
2nd Test: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Durban, Dec 26-29, 2011 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 12.65
1st Test: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Galle, Jun 22-25, 2012 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 13.93


Innings worth average: 3.75 (rank 9th=)

25 Test peak adjusted average: 67.70 (2006-2009)
50 Test peak adjusted average: 62.18 (2006-2012)


Quality Points: 609
Career Points: 131
Peak Points: 148
TOTAL POINTS: 887


Perhaps the biggest surprise of the top 100, Sangakkara finds himself in the top 10 test batsmen of all time. How did he get here? First of all, the man scores great innings for fun. His total of 9 is equal second only to a batsman who is yet to come. Consequently, he also has a very high innings worth average. One thing to remember, for those raging about Sanga's high position, is that he is without doubt at the peak of his powers at this moment in time. If his career goes along the same path as many greats, his average is likely to drop a couple of points in his last couple of years of test batting. In fact, his adjusted career average takes the biggest drop of anyone in the top 25. Only time will tell if he can keep his place in the top 10.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Very happy with the list, it must be close between this top ten, generally

 

[ankitj]

Good on Sanga. 9 great innings is awesome. These include innings in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. So that's good all round coverage too. With that I am willing to ignore relatively low averages in some countries.

 

[bagapath]

So the top 5 modern batsmen are:

Lara
Sanga
Sachin
Kallis
Ponting


I would rank them:

Lara
Sachin
Ponting
Sanga
Kallis

But, seriously, that is no big deal for me. A slightly different set of criteria might shake up the rankings a little. That's all. We all have to go with the flow at some point.


Good job DoG

 

[Migara]

Dravid is not far behind too.

 

[smash84]

Sangers is pretty awesome........he has smashed all our bowlers (the good, the great, and the pathetic) all over the park. Always the danger man in the SL side as far as Pakistan is concerned.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Here is an updated top 10:

On that Chennai match, Afridi's innings was rated as 13.01.

What's the rationale behind Tendulkar's innings being so vastly superior to Afridi's? Is it simply the quality of the two bowling line ups which have caused this result?

 

[Coronis]

Brilliant from Sanga.

 

[Cricketismylife]

Good on Sanga. 9 great innings is awesome. These include innings in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. So that's good all round coverage too. With that I am willing to ignore relatively low averages in some countries.

That's the point I've made earlier about Sangakkara. He's played so many amazing innings through his career but is underrated because as a Sri Lankan, the series that he play in are hardly watched by the cricketing world as a whole. That's why we've had nonsensical threads on this forum comparing Pietersen with Sangakkara, because even though the former is definitely an inferior player his great innings have taken place in series that have been followed more closely.

 

[Cricketismylife]

So the top 5 modern batsmen are:

Lara
Sanga
Sachin
Kallis
Ponting


I would rank them:

Lara
Sachin
Ponting
Sanga
Kallis

But, seriously, that is no big deal for me. A slightly different set of criteria might shake up the rankings a little. That's all. We all have to go with the flow at some point.


Good job DoG

I'm a huge Lara fan but I feel that his away record has holes in it, and it's debatable whether it's any better than Sangakkara's. If you set the limit to 40 then Lara has 2 teams under 40 (India and NZ), Sangakkara has 4 (India, WI, Eng and SA). But if you set the limit at 50 then Lara has only 1 country over 50, while Sangakkara has 5 (including UAE where Lara didn't play).

Lara's record in Australia shows he had a technical issue playing the pace and bounce there especially Mcgrath's. His record there is patchy, a few huge innings to offset a string of failures and he relied on Adelaide to score a lot of his runs, and it's no coincidence that Adelaide was one of the slowest wickets in Australia.

 

[kyear2]

An ATG batsman no doubt with the numbers to prove it. Even though he wouldn't my top ten fully deserving of his place here.

 

[kyear2]

So the top 5 modern batsmen are:

Lara
Sanga
Sachin
Kallis
Ponting


I would rank them:

Lara
Sachin
Ponting
Sanga
Kallis

But, seriously, that is no big deal for me. A slightly different set of criteria might shake up the rankings a little. That's all. We all have to go with the flow at some point.


Good job DoG

Pretty much agree with your rankings, I personally find it near impossible to separate Sachin and B.C and generally leave it that Sachin was more consistent and had the better career, but I think Lara was more dominant and was slightly the better player.

That's the point I've made earlier about Sangakkara. He's played so many amazing innings through his career but is underrated because as a Sri Lankan, the series that he play in are hardly watched by the cricketing world as a whole. That's why we've had nonsensical threads on this forum comparing Pietersen with Sangakkara, because even though the former is definitely an inferior player his great innings have taken place in series that have been followed more closely.

I woulnd't say inferior player, K.P's career isn't finished either and he has the capacity to destroy an attack more than any other player in the world currently. I do take your point though than Sanga isn't as highly rated because the series he plays in are not that closely followed, but it would help if he played more matches away from home as well.

I'm a huge Lara fan but I feel that his away record has holes in it, and it's debatable whether it's any better than Sangakkara's. If you set the limit to 40 then Lara has 2 teams under 40 (India and NZ), Sangakkara has 4 (India, WI, Eng and SA). But if you set the limit at 50 then Lara has only 1 country over 50, while Sangakkara has 5 (including UAE where Lara didn't play).

Lara's record in Australia shows he had a technical issue playing the pace and bounce there especially Mcgrath's. His record there is patchy, a few huge innings to offset a string of failures and he relied on Adelaide to score a lot of his runs, and it's no coincidence that Adelaide was one of the slowest wickets in Australia.

Agree with the fact that Lara wasn't at his best againts genuine pace, which is the only reason I don't rate him second overall and best ever after Sir Don. THat being said, there is no genuine comparrison between Lara and Sangakkara. For one BCL faced much better bolwers and for my criteria I always ask, at theier best who was the better player and who took over, changed and dominated attacks and series and the answer for both of those is Lara. In fact at their individual best there are only three or four batsmen who can compare to the Price of Port of Spain and I don't rank Sanga in that class as yet.

 

[Furball]

It wouldn't surprise me if Lara was 2nd. His best innings are seriously good.

 

[Cricketismylife]

Pretty much agree with your rankings, I personally find it near impossible to separate Sachin and B.C and generally leave it that Sachin was more consistent and had the better career, but I think Lara was more dominant and was slightly the better player.



I woulnd't say inferior player, K.P's career isn't finished either and he has the capacity to destroy an attack more than any other player in the world currently. I do take your point though than Sanga isn't as highly rated because the series he plays in are not that closely followed, but it would help if he played more matches away from home as well.



Agree with the fact that Lara wasn't at his best againts genuine pace, which is the only reason I don't rate him second overall and best ever after Sir Don. THat being said, there is no genuine comparrison between Lara and Sangakkara. For one BCL faced much better bolwers and for my criteria I always ask, at theier best who was the better player and who took over, changed and dominated attacks and series and the answer for both of those is Lara. In fact at their individual best there are only three or four batsmen who can compare to the Price of Port of Spain and I don't rank Sanga in that class as yet.

Lara at his best changed games more than pretty much any batsman though never mind Sangakkara, but his level of consistency wasn't as high as other batsman. Lara's 213 and 153* and 100 are the greatest series performances I've seen in my time and that series always ranks as my favourite of all time, but then you look at say the 5-0 whitewash against SA or 5-0 in Australia and remember how Lara hardly turned up with the bat in those series. But the human mind has a way of remembering the great innings more than the failures which means we tend to bias towards players of very high level of excellence as opposed to consistency.

I do believe that there is a genuine comparison between Lara and Sangakkara; if forced to choose I would pick Lara for the fact that he played during the 90s when the scores were lower and the bowling attacks stronger. But then again Sangakkara was hampered by having to bat and number 3 and keep in 47 tests which is not an easy thing to do.

Out of interest based on your rating system which favours fast scoring and dominance, where do you place Sehwag in subcontintental conditions? I would guess in subcontinental conditions he'd be the next thing down from Bradman. Even overall average of around 50 with a strike rate over 80 must place him highly in your mind?

 

[smash84]

I agree with you on Lara. In terms of memorable knocks he might be second to none that I have seen over the years. But he was terribly inconsistent over the years. Failed to show up many times.

In terms of those I have seen over the years Viv Richards was probably the best. As an overall package 2nd to none IMO (from those I have seen). I didn't see Bradman or Sobers bat but I can't imagine them being too much better than Viv. The ground atmosphere was something to behold when Viv was coming out to bat. He had those intangible thing about him. And of course the way that he would toy around with quicks was a sight to behold too. An average of 50 isn't as high as some of the others have had after him but a similar persona is hard to find on the cricket field.

I wonder where Viv will finish in this list

 

[Coronis]

Given that there are only 8 batsmen left, guess its time for my prediction.

Bradman
Sobers
Hobbs
Richards
Lara
Hutton
Hammond
Headley

Top 3 are in my opinion the 3 greatest of all time. I wouldn't rank the rest in this order, but I think this is where they'll end up.

 

[kyear2]

I agree with you on Lara. In terms of memorable knocks he might be second to none that I have seen over the years. But he was terribly inconsistent over the years. Failed to show up many times.

In terms of those I have seen over the years Viv Richards was probably the best. As an overall package 2nd to none IMO (from those I have seen). I didn't see Bradman or Sobers bat but I can't imagine them being too much better than Viv. The ground atmosphere was something to behold when Viv was coming out to bat. He had those intangible thing about him. And of course the way that he would toy around with quicks was a sight to behold too. An average of 50 isn't as high as some of the others have had after him but a similar persona is hard to find on the cricket field.

I wonder where Viv will finish in this list

Fully agree, at his best he may have had equals, surely not much better.

Lara at his best changed games more than pretty much any batsman though never mind Sangakkara, but his level of consistency wasn't as high as other batsman. Lara's 213 and 153* and 100 are the greatest series performances I've seen in my time and that series always ranks as my favourite of all time, but then you look at say the 5-0 whitewash against SA or 5-0 in Australia and remember how Lara hardly turned up with the bat in those series. But the human mind has a way of remembering the great innings more than the failures which means we tend to bias towards players of very high level of excellence as opposed to consistency.

I do believe that there is a genuine comparison between Lara and Sangakkara; if forced to choose I would pick Lara for the fact that he played during the 90s when the scores were lower and the bowling attacks stronger. But then again Sangakkara was hampered by having to bat and number 3 and keep in 47 tests which is not an easy thing to do.

Out of interest based on your rating system which favours fast scoring and dominance, where do you place Sehwag in subcontintental conditions? I would guess in subcontinental conditions he'd be the next thing down from Bradman. Even overall average of around 50 with a strike rate over 80 must place him highly in your mind?

See him purely as a FTB and really don't rate him at all.

Given that there are only 8 batsmen left, guess its time for my prediction.

Bradman
Sobers
Hobbs
Richards
Lara
Hutton
Hammond
Headley

Top 3 are in my opinion the 3 greatest of all time. I wouldn't rank the rest in this order, but I think this is where they'll end up.

How would you rate them?