What are the five strongest batting lineups who ever played?

[subshakerz]

Taking into account batting form of all the players, not just on paper. Any different version of the same team listed should have at least three different names of batters in the lineup to qualify to avoid variants of the same lineup.

 

[shortpitched713]

By going with 5, you're really wanting me to go with Dylan again, aren't you...

But seriously Australia early 2000s was insane from 1-7.

 

[The Sean]

By going with 5, you're really wanting me to go with Dylan again, aren't you...

But seriously Australia early 2000s was insane from 1-7.

Yeah, takes some beating:

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Waugh
Waugh
Martyn
Gilchrist

 

[trundler]

Australia 2000s
Australia 1948
India 2000s
WI 60s
WI late 70s

 

[a massive zebra]

England 1928-29

AUS vs ENG Cricket Scorecard, 1st Test at Brisbane, November 30 - December 05, 1928

Get cricket scorecard of 1st Test, AUS vs ENG, England tour of Australia 1928/29 at Exhibition Ground, Brisbane dated November 30 - December 05, 1928.

www.espncricinfo.com

This side has three ATG batsmen (Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond), three others with Test averages over 47 (Mead, Jardine, Hendren), another frontline batsman (Chapman) and a bowling allrounder (Tate).

Australia 1948

AUS vs IND Cricket Scorecard, 4th Test at Adelaide, January 23 - 28, 1948

Get cricket scorecard of 4th Test, AUS vs IND, India tour of Australia 1947/48 at Adelaide Oval dated January 23 - 28, 1948.

www.espncricinfo.com

One of Australia's best ever openers (Morris), a 63 averaging opener (Barnes), the greatest batsman (Bradman), one of Australia's greatest middle order batsmen (Harvey), a leading batsman of the time (Hassett) and an ATG allrounder (Miller).

England 1954-55

AUS vs ENG Cricket Scorecard, 5th Test at Sydney, February 25 - March 03, 1955

Get cricket scorecard of 5th Test, AUS vs ENG, England tour of Australia 1954/55 at Sydney Cricket Ground dated February 25 - March 03, 1955.

www.espncricinfo.com

Two ATG batsmen (Hutton & Compton), a world class batsman (May), two top class and incredibly promising young players (Graveney & Cowdrey) and a quality allrounder (Bailey)

South Africa 1969-70

SA vs AUS, Australia tour of South Africa 1969/70, 3rd Test at Johannesburg, February 19 - 24, 1970 - Full Scorecard

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, SA vs AUS, Australia tour of South Africa 1969/70 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg dated February 19 - 24, 1970.

www.espncricinfo.com

This side has two ATG batsmen (Richards and Pollock), another world class batsman (Barlow) and possibly the best batting depth ever with Lindsay at 8 and Procter at 9.

West Indies 1979-80

AUS vs WI Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Adelaide, January 26 - 30, 1980

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, AUS vs WI, West Indies tour of Australia 1979/80 at Adelaide Oval dated January 26 - 30, 1980.

www.espncricinfo.com

The classic opening pair (Greenidge & Haynes), one of their greatest batsmen (Richards) and a top quality middle order (Kallicharran, Rowe, Lloyd).

Australia 2003-04

AUS vs IND Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Melbourne, December 26 - 30, 2003

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, AUS vs IND, India tour of Australia 2003/04 at Melbourne Cricket Ground dated December 26 - 30, 2003.

www.espncricinfo.com

One of Australia's greatest opening pairs (Langer & Hayden), two ATG batsmen (Ponting and S Waugh), a couple of quality middle order players (Martyn & M Waugh) and arguably the greatest wicketkeeper batsman (Gilchrist).

India 2008-09

IND vs AUS Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Delhi, October 29 - November 02, 2008

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, IND vs AUS, Australia tour of India 2008/09 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi dated October 29 - November 02, 2008.

www.espncricinfo.com

India's most destructive opener (Sehwag), a quality opener in the form of his life (Gambhir), two ATG batsmen (Dravid & Tendulkar), a world class batsman (Laxman), another quality batsman (Ganguly) and a world class wicketkeeper batsman (Dhoni).

 

[trundler]

England 1928-29

AUS vs ENG Cricket Scorecard, 1st Test at Brisbane, November 30 - December 05, 1928

Get cricket scorecard of 1st Test, AUS vs ENG, England tour of Australia 1928/29 at Exhibition Ground, Brisbane dated November 30 - December 05, 1928.

www.espncricinfo.com

This side has three ATG batsmen (Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond), three others with Test averages over 47 (Mead, Jardine, Hendren), another frontline batsman (Chapman) and a bowling allrounder (Tate).

Australia 1948

AUS vs IND Cricket Scorecard, 4th Test at Adelaide, January 23 - 28, 1948

Get cricket scorecard of 4th Test, AUS vs IND, India tour of Australia 1947/48 at Adelaide Oval dated January 23 - 28, 1948.

www.espncricinfo.com

One of Australia's best ever openers (Morris), a 63 averaging opener (Barnes), the greatest batsman (Bradman), one of Australia's greatest middle order batsmen (Harvey), a leading batsman of the time (Hassett) and an ATG allrounder (Miller).

England 1954-55

AUS vs ENG Cricket Scorecard, 5th Test at Sydney, February 25 - March 03, 1955

Get cricket scorecard of 5th Test, AUS vs ENG, England tour of Australia 1954/55 at Sydney Cricket Ground dated February 25 - March 03, 1955.

www.espncricinfo.com

Two ATG batsmen (Hutton & Compton), a world class batsman (May), two top class an incredibly promising young players (Graveney & Cowdrey) and a quality allrounder (Bailey)

South Africa 1969-70

SA vs AUS, Australia tour of South Africa 1969/70, 3rd Test at Johannesburg, February 19 - 24, 1970 - Full Scorecard

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, SA vs AUS, Australia tour of South Africa 1969/70 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg dated February 19 - 24, 1970.

www.espncricinfo.com

This side has two ATG batsmen (Richards and Pollock), another world class batsman (Barlow) and an incredibly long middle-lower order with Lindsay at 8 and Procter at 9.

West Indies 1979-80

AUS vs WI Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Adelaide, January 26 - 30, 1980

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, AUS vs WI, West Indies tour of Australia 1979/80 at Adelaide Oval dated January 26 - 30, 1980.

www.espncricinfo.com

The classic opening pair (Greenidge & Haynes), one of their greatest batsmen (Richards) and a top quality middle order (Kallicharran, Rowe, Lloyd).

Australia 2003-04

AUS vs IND Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Melbourne, December 26 - 30, 2003

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, AUS vs IND, India tour of Australia 2003/04 at Melbourne Cricket Ground dated December 26 - 30, 2003.

www.espncricinfo.com

One of Australia's greatest opening pairs (Langer & Hayden), two ATG batsmen (Ponting and S Waugh), a couple of quality middle order players (Martyn & M Waugh) and arguably the greatest wicketkeeper batsman (Gilchrist).

India 2008-09

IND vs AUS Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Delhi, October 29 - November 02, 2008

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, IND vs AUS, Australia tour of India 2008/09 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi dated October 29 - November 02, 2008.

www.espncricinfo.com

India's most destructive opener (Sehwag), a quality opener in the form of his life (Gambhir), two ATG batsmen (Dravid & Tendulkar), a world class batsman (Laxman), another quality batsman (Ganguly) and a world class wicketkeeper batsman (Dhoni).

The presence of both Ali Bacher and Tiger Lance disqualifies SA imo.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Australia 2000s
Australia 1948
India 2000s
WI 60s
WI late 70s

There's not that much between some of these lineups.

Except Gilchrist at 7 was so unfair and beyond anything a team has ever had that it separates it from the rest comfortably.

 

[a massive zebra]

The presence of both Ali Bacher and Tiger Lance disqualifies SA imo.

The presence of Lindsay at 8 and Procter at 9 requalifies them imo.

 

[trundler]

The presence of Lindsay at 8 and Procter at 9 requalifies them imo.

Procter averaged 25 in tests so nah, not really. Lindsay was great in that series though. An ATG lineup can't have two passengers in the top 7.

 

[a massive zebra]

Procter averaged 25 in tests so nah, not really. Lindsay was great in that series though. An ATG lineup can't have two passengers in the top 7.

Procter played 7 Tests so not a representative sample size. He was obviously a quality batsman as he made 48 first class centuries including six in a row which is something only three people have ever done. A 30 averaging batsman isn't a passenger - perhaps it is by ATG standards, but then other ATG batting lineup contenders didn't have quality players at 8 and 9.

 

[The Sean]

Procter averaged 25 in tests so nah, not really. Lindsay was great in that series though. An ATG lineup can't have two passengers in the top 7.

Lindsay only played two Tests in 69/70 - his big series with the bat was three years earlier.

 

[trundler]

Procter played 7 Tests so not a representative sample size. He was obviously a quality batsman as he made 48 first class centuries including six in a row which is something only three people have ever done.

Can only judge them on how they played as a unit otherwise this Australian 3-7 is the greatest middle order of all time.

 

[Patience and Accuracy+Gut]

England’s Batting line up in 1938 that scored 903 runs.

Hutton
Edrich
Leyland
Hammond
Paynter
Compton
Hardstaff

 

[Dendarii]

possibly the best batting depth ever

This is a tangent as it's not in contention as one of the best batting line-ups, but this team batted even deeper, with Symcox at 11.

AUS vs SA Cricket Scorecard, 3rd Test at Adelaide, January 30 - February 03, 1998

Get cricket scorecard of 3rd Test, AUS vs SA, South Africa tour of Australia 1997/98 at Adelaide Oval dated January 30 - February 03, 1998.

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[Silver Silva]

How many Test runs does a batsman need to be considered a great in Test Cricket, like minimum qualification ?

 

[Coronis]

How many Test runs does a batsman need to be considered a great in Test Cricket, like minimum qualification ?

Well Headley and Pollock at roughly 2000 are considered pretty much unanimous greats.

 

[Silver Silva]

Well Headley and Pollock at roughly 2000 are considered pretty much unanimous greats.

So maybe the minimum qualification for each strong batting line up should be that each batsman of that line up must have scored minimum 2000 runs .

 

[Fuller Pilch]

This XI had 6 ATGs in the top 6, and 3 30 averaging bats from 7-9, yet failed miserably.

Smith
Sehwag
Dravid
Lara
Kallis
Inzy
Flintoff
Boucher
Vettori
Harmison
Murali


The ROW XI from 1971 was equally strong batting wise
Richards
Barlow
Kanhai
Pollock
Lloyd
Sobers
Engineer
Inkikhab Alam
Procter
McKenzie
Gibbs

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

How many Test runs does a batsman need to be considered a great in Test Cricket, like minimum qualification ?

Tricky one to compare across eras/teams/etc.

But off the top of my head I'd say something like 509 minimum.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Yeah, takes some beating:

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Waugh
Waugh
Martyn
Gilchrist

Potentially even stronger when replaced the Waughs with Clarke + Hussey

This XI had 6 ATGs in the top 6, and 3 30 averaging bats from 7-9, yet failed miserably.

Smith
Sehwag
Dravid
Lara
Kallis
Inzy
Flintoff
Boucher
Vettori
Harmison
Murali

Unfair putting them up against the unstoppable Stuart MacGill