Your top 10 TEST batsmen of all-time

[biased indian]

Don Bradman
Tendulkar
Hammond
Hobbs
Sobers
Brian Lara
Viv Richards
Headley
Chappell
Javed Maindad

Sachin so high beacuse i like his batting so much...if u insisted to take out personnel bias may be he would have come near lara

 

[Days of Grace]

Okay, we've got a roll-on now. Keep 'em coming guys. I'll do an update of the points tomorrow.

 

[The Sean]

Interestingly, for those of us (and I include myself here) discounting Grace from our reckoning due to the word Test being in the criteria, the Doctor played the same number of Tests (22) as George Headley, and over a similar period of years.

Make of that what you will.

 

[silentstriker]

1. Bradman
2. Hobbs
3. Sobers
4. Tendulkar
5. Hammond
6. Sutcliffe
7. Hutton
8. Richards
9. Headley
10. Chappell

 

[Shaggy Alfresco]

Bradman
Hobbs
Sobers
Sutcliffe
Hammond
Hutton
Headley
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar

In about that order.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Interestingly, for those of us (and I include myself here) discounting Grace from our reckoning due to the word Test being in the criteria, the Doctor played the same number of Tests (22) as George Headley, and over a similar period of years.

Make of that what you will.

People discount Grace because he was well past his prime before he made his Test debut and his record is modest and Headley was a young man in his prime who had a spectacular record which was cut short by the War.

I'm putting Barry Richards in, obviously on ability rather than actual achievement in Tests.

Bradman
Richards V
Richards B
Hobbs
Tendulkar
Sobers
Lara
Hammond
Headley
Hutton

 

[The Sean]

Bradman
Hutton
Ponting
Hobbs
May
Walcott
Richards (Viv)
Sobers
Kallis
Hayden

Someone is a big fan of the ICC ratings...

 

[JBMAC]

Bradman
Sobers
Border
Gavaskar
Richards V.
Hobbs
McCabe
Nyadu
May
Cowdrey(Colin)

 

[Richard]

I refuse to equate Tests of the 19th-century with those of the 20th-century and beyond TBH, there's just too much about the game that was different before 1900. In any case, there's very few players of said era that I know much about anyway.

It's impossible to give a certain top-10, but off the top of my head as my head is feeling at present...

Don Bradman (obviously)
George Headley (would always go for him 2nd)
Jack Hobbs (is hard to put too many above him)
Walter Hammond
Leonard Hutton
Garfield Sobers
Everton Weekes
Sachin Tendulkar
Herbert Sutcliffe
Graeme Pollock

From four downwards you really could put them in any order, though.

 

[bond21]

1. Bradman
2. M.Taylor
3. Ponting
4. Hayden
5. Border
6. S.Waugh
7. Lara
8. Langer
9. M.Waugh
10. Gilchrist


Duno why people put Chappell above Border....Greg Chappell couldnt handle the West Indian pace attack....

 

[The Sean]

Mate, that's the first ranked list I can ever remember you indulging in, in my entire time on the boards. Always nice to see a bit of history.

EDIT - addressed to Rich.

 

[Engle]

01. D.Bradman
02. V.Richards
03. J.Hobbs
04. G.Sobers
05. B.Lara
06. G.Chappell
07. S.Tendulkar
08. A.Border
09. W.Hammond
10. S.Gavaskar

 

[The Sean]

1. Bradman
2. M.Taylor
3. Ponting
4. Hayden
5. Border
6. S.Waugh
7. Lara
8. Langer
9. M.Waugh
10. Gilchrist


Duno why people put Chappell above Border....Greg Chappell couldnt handle the West Indian pace attack....

Indeed. Personally I'm just grateful that someone has finally given Mark Taylor the historical credit he so richly deserves.

 

[Richard]

Mate, that's the first ranked list I can ever remember you indulging in, in my entire time on the boards. Always nice to see a bit of history.

As I say - it's really just the top three that I'd be happy giving a genuine ranking for - once you go down to four I'd be almost as happy to have Tendulkar as I would Hammond. You really can switch them around any old way really.

Heck, I can even stomach Vivian Richards being in a top-ten, but 2nd?

 

[silentstriker]

1. Bradman
2. M.Taylor
3. Ponting
4. Hayden
5. Border
6. S.Waugh
7. Lara
8. Langer
9. M.Waugh
10. Gilchrist


Duno why people put Chappell above Border....Greg Chappell couldnt handle the West Indian pace attack....

9/10 Australians. You sure you don't want to put Symonds in there instead of Lara? And nine of the top ten batsmen in the history of cricket have played in the last twenty years?

 

[Goughy]

Dubious about doing this as Im not sure it is possible and tomorrow my list could look different.

Anyway

1 Bradman
2 Grace
3 Hobbs
4 Sobers
5 G Pollock
6 Headley
7 V Richards
8 B Richards
9 Hutton
10 Ponting

Many notable exclusions from Hammond to Tendulkar

Grace is included as without him cricket as we know it wouldnt exist and Barry Richards is included as, despite not playing much Test cricket, he was the best batsman of his era.

 

[Shaggy Alfresco]

It's official, Mark Taylor is the second greatest batsmen of all time.

 

[Engle]

It's official, Mark Taylor is the second greatest batsmen of all time.

No, no. He's the second greatest Test batsman of all time.

 

[bond21]

It's official, Mark Taylor is the second greatest batsmen of all time.

It's official - England are out of Euro 2008

 

[shortpitched713]

1. Donald Bradman
2. Brian Lara
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Wally Hammond
6. Garry Sobers
7. Sunil Gavaskar
8. Matthew Hayden
9. Rahul Dravid
10. Len Hutton