DoG's Top 100 Test Batsmen - The Top 25

[uvelocity]

Sorry it's taking so long. Been busy the last few days and got the missus over tonight. Hopefully will finish it within the next 24 hours.

stikki's advice worked imo

 

[Agent Nationaux]

This is disappointing news for me - the travails of your love life in the "Girl Trouble" thread kept the prospective Mrs Fertang III amused for hours

What prospective Mrs Fertang III?

 

[Furball]

Sorry it's taking so long. Been busy the last few days and got the missus over tonight. Hopefully will finish it within the next 24 hours.

The list or slipping a length to your missus?

 

[Migara]

 

[Days of Grace]

Feeling refreshed so here is your no.2:

2. Garfield Sobers (West Indies) (1954-1974)

Career Length (Days): 7305
Percentage of team's matches played: 93%
Career Average: 57.78
Adjusted career average: 56.22 (rank 7th)
Adjusted away average: 52.03
Adjusted top-opposition average: 56.02 (rank 9th)
Top Tier centuries: 2
Second tier centuries: 15
Third tier centuries 6
Significant innings: 41
Significant innings per match: 0.44

Great innings: 4
3rd Test: West Indies v Pakistan at Kingston, Feb 26-Mar 4, 1958 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 14.55
2nd Test: India v West Indies at Kanpur, Dec 12-17, 1958 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 14.15
3rd Test: Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Jan 13-18, 1961 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 16.21
2nd Test: England v West Indies at Lord's, Jun 16-21, 1966 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 13.39


Innings worth average: 3.65

25 Test Peak Average: 73.43 (1958-1962) (rank 7th)
50 Test Peak Average: 70.75 (1958-1968) (rank 2nd)


Quality Points: 657 (rank 6th)
Career Points: 124
Peak Points: 169 (rank 3rd)
TOTAL POINTS: 949


Sir Garfield Sobers fully deserves to be ranked the 2nd best test batsman to ever grace the game. You only have to look at his averages to see how complete his record is. But what convinces me of his greatness is that he averaged 70.75 (adjusted from the original 74.10!) in 50 tests over a 10 year period. No one else apart from Bradman has maintained such a high standard of batsmanship for so long. Sobers arguably reached his batting peak in the 1966 series in England where he scored 722 runs, mostly batting at no.6, and had 3 innings rated over 10.00. He also took 20 wickets at 27. For me, his status as the second best batsmen of all time is a lot surer than his ranking as the greatest allrounder. But I will leave that to the forum to debate. Which is the whole point of this exercise and what makes it so enjoyable.

 

[watson]

A 50 Test Peak Average of 71 is impressive enough. But for an entire decade sets it apart........

 

[bagapath]

This guy also took wickets and pouched catches on a regular basis. Insane talent!

 

[Spikey]

does the 254 against the world XI crack the 20.xx barrier

 

[watson]

does the 254 against the world XI crack the 20.xx barrier

Sobers scored a duck in the first innings of that match too;

3rd 'Test': Australia v World XI at Melbourne, 1-6 Jan 1972

And with a Dennis Lillee 5-fer, and then centuries by Greg Chappell and Doug Walters it would have been one hellava Test match to watch.

 

[bagapath]

Sobers scored a duck in the first innings of that match too;

3rd 'Test': Australia v World XI at Melbourne, 1-6 Jan 1972

And with a Dennis Lillee 5-fer, and then centuries by Greg Chappell and Doug Walters it would have been one hellava Test match to watch.

Except it wasn't. It was a first class game and for that reason would not have been part of DoG's analysis.

 

[fatt]

What prospective Mrs Fertang III?

wtf - first I've heard of it

 

[The Sean]

A well deserved number two, and a batsman who certainly played the game the "right" way always looking to attack and entertain.

If only he could bowl and field a bit he would have been a handy cricketer.

 

[Migara]

Since we are approaching the end of the rankings a request from DoG. Could you post a table for quality / career / peak points for all 100 batsmen?

 

[Migara]

Sobers scored a duck in the first innings of that match too;

3rd 'Test': Australia v World XI at Melbourne, 1-6 Jan 1972

And with a Dennis Lillee 5-fer, and then centuries by Greg Chappell and Doug Walters it would have been one hellava Test match to watch.

Looking at that scorecard, how good was Intikab Alam if he played in a better side? Could be even better than Qadir IMO.

 

[Days of Grace]

1. Don Bradman (Australia) (1928-1948)

Career Length (Days): 7197
Percentage of team's matches played: 87%
Career Average: 99.94
Adjusted career average: 96.05 (rank 1st)
Adjusted away average: 98.03 (rank 1st)
Adjusted top-opposition average: 87.14 (rank 1st)
Top Tier centuries: 7 (rank 9th=)
Second tier centuries: 8
Third tier centuries: 4
Significant innings: 30
Significant innings per match: 0.58 (rank 1st)

Great innings: 15 (rank 1st)
2nd Test: England v Australia at Lord's, Jun 27-Jul 1, 1930 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 12.71
3rd Test: England v Australia at Leeds, Jul 11-15, 1930 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 18.13
5th Test: England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 16-22, 1930 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 13.14
4th Test: Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, Feb 13-14, 1931 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 12.56
1st Test: Australia v South Africa at Brisbane, Nov 27-Dec 3, 1931 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 16.40
3rd Test: Australia v South Africa at Melbourne, Dec 31, 1931 - Jan 6, 1932 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 12.55
4th Test: Australia v South Africa at Adelaide, Jan 29-Feb 2, 1932 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 18.34
2nd Test: Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 30, 1932 - Jan 3, 1933 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 17.16
4th Test: England v Australia at Leeds, Jul 20-24, 1934 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 15.86
5th Test: England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 18-22, 1934 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 15.33
3rd Test: Australia v England at Melbourne, Jan 1-7, 1937 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 23.52
4th Test: Australia v England at Adelaide, Jan 29-Feb 4, 1937 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 16.18
4th Test: England v Australia at Leeds, Jul 22-25, 1938 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 15.24
1st Test: Australia v India at Brisbane, Nov 28-Dec 4, 1947 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 13.10
4th Test: England v Australia at Leeds, Jul 22-27, 1948 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo 13.07


Innings worth average: 5.86 (rank 1st)

25 Test Peak Average: 108.89 (1931-1946) (rank 1st)
50 Test Peak Average: 100.05 (1928-1948) (rank 1st)


Quality Points: 1099 (rank 1st)
Career Points: 150 (maximum points allowed. 187 actual points)
Peak Points: 251 (rank 1st)
TOTAL POINTS: 1500


There's nothing I can say to praise Sir Donald Bradman's skill with the willow that hasn't already been written by scores of cricket writers. I will stick to the cold, hard facts. The gap between Bradman and Sobers is a massive 544 points. And yet there are only 288 points between Sobers and Polly Umrigar at no.100. The Don has 15 great innings. That's 1 per every 5.33 innings played. Those two facts alone should convince anyone that Bradman is not only the greatest cricketer ever but probably the best sportsman of all time when you look at the sheer chasm between himself and the rest of the field.

And that brings us to the end of the list. The feedback I have received from this has been amazing. Thanks so much everyone. I have incorporated the updated formula into Bradman's stats as a preview of the coming adjustments to the top 100. I will also put the same updated formula into the bowler's list so it may be a while before I can present a top 100 of test bowlers. Stay tuned.

 

[Spikey]

may as well post the ratings to the rest of Bradman's centuries

 

[Days of Grace]

Updated Top 100 Test Batsmen:

1 DG Bradman 1500
2 GS Sobers 956
3 JB Hobbs 934
4 BC Lara 921
5 WR Hammond 904
6 IVA Richards 896
7 L Hutton 893
8 KC Sangakkara 889
9 SR Tendulkar 887
10 RT Ponting 879
11 GS Chappell 876
12 JH Kallis 876
13 GA Headley 872*
14 H Sutcliffe 862
15 SR Waugh 856
16 KF Barrington 847
17 SM Gavaskar 845
18 R Dravid 843
19 AR Border 842
20 ED Weekes 841
21 Inzamam-ul-Haq 837
22 CL Walcott 828
23 Javed Miandad 818
24 RN Harvey 808
25 ML Hayden 808
26 S Chanderpaul 801
27 AD Nourse 801
28 AC Gilchrist 800
29 CH Lloyd 799
30 HM Amla 797
31 Younis Khan 796
32 Mohammad Yousuf 794
33 DCS Compton 794
34 AB de Villiers 793
35 RG Pollock 793
36 A Flower 784
37 DPMD Jayawardene 784
38 PBH May 783
39 MJ Clarke 783
40 RB Kanhai 783
41 FMM Worrell 776
42 V Sehwag 774
43 KD Walters 767
44 RB Simpson 763
45 G Boycott 760
46 CG Greenidge 758
47 Saeed Anwar 757
48 GA Gooch 756
49 GC Smith 755
50 DR Martyn 754
51 C Hill 750
52 VVS Laxman 748
53 AN Cook 748
54 JL Langer 747
55 KP Pietersen 746
56 GA Faulkner 745
57 MEK Hussey 743
58 B Mitchell 741
59 MC Cowdrey 739
60 GP Thorpe 739
61 G Kirsten 737
62 VT Trumper 733
63 SJ McCabe 729
64 WM Lawry 729
65 ME Waugh 728
66 MD Crowe 726
67 HW Taylor 726
68 DI Gower 722
69 MA Taylor 718
70 Hanif Mohammad 718
71 VS Hazare 711
72 CG Macartney 702
73 DJ McGlew 702
74 RB Richardson 702
75 GR Viswanath 699
76 SM Nurse 695
77 AL Hassett 694
78 Saleem Malik 693
79 IR Redpath 693
80 WH Ponsford 693
81 AR Morris 693
82 M Azharuddin 691
83 DJ Cullinan 691
84 E Paynter 690
85 PA de Silva 689
86 TT Samaraweera 687
87 DL Haynes 685
88 IJL Trott 683
89 M Leyland 682
90 Zaheer Abbas 682
91 BF Butcher 682
92 AI Kallicharran 681
93 AJ Stewart 676
94 DC Boon 676
95 EH Hendren 675
96 DB Vengsarkar 674
97 IM Chappell 673
98 DL Amiss 671
99 MJ Slater 670
100 PR Umrigar 668


Headley receives a maximum of 705 career points having only played 22 matches and thus drops down to no.13.

 

[Garson007]

That's quite the gap.

 

[bagapath]

The final list it so perfect that I wish all the ***y girls in Takasaki storm your house and bury you in their passion for one whole week. Bravo DoG!

 

[Howe_zat]

Damn, and I was expecting Tikolo.

Edit: Bradman played 4 Tests at Headingley, and in every single one he hit one of the finest innings of all time. Well.

~

Well done DoG. Been fascinating reading.