Top 100 Test Batsmen - newly revised and updated

[Days of Grace]

Okay, so after a lot of work, I present to you updated top 100s of my test cricket ratings.

Big changes have been made, most notably the introduction of points for away average, peak average, and non-minnow average.

Explanation for batsmen:

Average x5.5 (worth 100% of weighting)
Career Runs divided by 200 (worth 10% of weighting)
Peak Average x1.5 (worth 30% of weighting) (batsmen has to have played at least 10 matches for 1877-1912 batsmen, 15 matches for 1920-1939 batsmen, and 20 matches for 1946-present day batsmen)
Away Average x1.5 (worth 25% of weighting) (batsmen has to have played at least 5 away matches for 1877-1912 batsmen, and at least 10 away matches for 1920-present day batsmen)
Non-minnow Average x1.125 (worth 20% of weighting) (minnows are South Africa 1880-1900, New Zealand 1929-1960, Zimbabwe 2003-present day, and Bangladesh 2000-present day)
50+ scores per innings x300 (worth 35% of weighting)
Centuries scored x2.75 (worth 20% of weighting)
%Centuries per match x300 (worth 25% of weighting)

Finally,
batsmen playing entire career before 1900: +35% of rating
batsmen playing partly before 1900: +27.5% of rating
batsmen playing between 1900-1914: +20% of rating
batsmen playing partly before 1914: +10% of rating

batsmen whose careers were interrupted by WWI or WWII: +7.5% of rating

batsmen playing less then 30 matches: -5% of rating (post 1970 batsmen only)
batsmen playing less then 25 matches: -5% of rating
batsmen playing less then 20 matches: -20% of rating
batsmen playing less then 15 matches: -35% of rating
batsmen playing less then 10 matches: -50% of rating

*slightly more lenient to batsmen playing before WWI.

Example: Sachin Tendulkar

Average: 54.23 x5.5= 298.27
Runs: 11877/200= 59.39
Peak Average: 58.87 x1.5 = 88.31
Away Average: 54.40 x1.5 = 81.60
NM Average: 52.66 x1.125 = 59.24
50+ scores per innings: 0.361 x300 = 108.2
Centuries: 39 x 2.75 = 107.3
Centuries per match: 0.26 + 300 = 78
Final Rating: 880





Top 100 Test Batsmen

1 DG Bradman 1531
2 JB Hobbs 972
3 WR Hammond 919
4 H Sutcliffe 905
5 RT Ponting 901
6 L Hutton 888
7 GA Headley 882
8 SR Tendulkar 880
9 KF Barrington 872
10 MEK Hussey 858
11 GS Sobers 857
12 BC Lara 850
13 JH Kallis 850
14 ED Weekes 845
15 SM Gavaskar 840
16 ML Hayden 828
17 Mohammad Yousuf 822
18 R Dravid 818
19 GS Chappell 817
20 CL Walcott 806
21 AD Nourse 803
22 Javed Miandad 792
23 SR Waugh 792
24 DCS Compton 788
25 IVA Richards 787
26 AR Border 785
27 RN Harvey 763
28 KS Ranjitsinhji 762
29 KC Sangakkara 759
30 Inzamam-ul-Haq 758
31 FS Jackson 755
32 DPMD Jayawardene 753
33 V Sehwag 746
34 E Paynter 740
35 B Mitchell 728
36 G Boycott 726
37 GC Smith 725
38 KD Walters 724
39 A Flower 721
40 S Chanderpaul 719
41 RG Pollock 716
42 Younis Khan 716
43 KP Pietersen 716
44 AR Morris 705
45 AC Gilchrist 702
46 C Hill 702
47 AL Hassett 697
48 FMM Worrell 694
49 CH Lloyd 690
50 G Kirsten 690
51 CG Macartney 690
52 JL Langer 688
53 MC Cowdrey 683
54 RB Kanhai 683
55 M Azharuddin 681
56 DR Martyn 678
57 MA Taylor 675
58 WH Ponsford 675
59 ER Dexter 673
60 Saeed Anwar 671
61 W Bardsley 671
62 VT Trumper 669
63 WM Lawry 666
64 CG Greenidge 666
65 EJ Barlow 662
66 WA Brown 660
67 HW Taylor 658
68 MD Crowe 657
69 DC Boon 657
70 WM Woodfull 655
71 DI Gower 653
72 PBH May 652
73 RB Simpson 651
74 DM Jones 651
75 DL Amiss 649
76 GA Faulkner 648
77 SJ McCabe 648
78 VS Hazare 648
79 GA Gooch 647
80 GP Thorpe 646
81 EH Hendren 646
82 SM Nurse 645
83 AI Kallicharran 644
84 RB Richardson 643
85 ME Waugh 642
86 DJ Cullinan 637
87 PA de Silva 634
88 M Leyland 628
89 Hanif Mohammad 628
90 ME Trescothick 624
91 MP Vaughan 622
92 IM Chappell 621
93 M Amarnath 621
94 CP Mead 619
95 Saleem Malik 619
96 MJ Clarke 619
97 JH Edrich 618
98 NC O'Neill 618
99 MJ Slater 616
100 SC Ganguly 616


I tried to upload my microsoft excel spreadsheet, but it wouldn't work

So, if anyone wants a copy, I can email it to you. Of particular interest could be the peak averages of batsmen.

I'm really glad to see Arthur Morris get ahead of Langer as Australia's 2nd best opening bat.

Good to see Worrell too make it into the top 50.

Sadly, King Viv doesn't move from his mid-20s spot.

Barrington's position may surprise a few, but he must have been a batsmen for all conditions, who also retired relatively early.

 

[weldone]

My top 20 test batsmen according to some complicated statistical criteria with statistics taken 1 month ago are as follows -

Rank Batsman Points
1 Donald Bradman 328
2 Garfield Sobers 239
3 Jack Hobbs 235
4 Wally Hammond 226
5 Sachin Tendulkar 225
6 Everton Weekes 223
7 Len Hutton 221
8 George Headley 218
9 Clyde Walcott 216
10 Javed Miandad 212
11 Ken Barrington 211
12 Steve Waugh 209
13 Sunil Gavaskar 207
14 Brian Lara 207
15 Ricky Ponting 206
16 Allan Border 204
17 Vivian Richards 202
18 Greg Chappell 202
19 Jacques Kallis 200
20 Herbert Sutcliffe 199

 

[Days of Grace]

Interesting how your list is markedly different from mine.

 

[kingkallis]

Good work...

 

[Migara]

If there is any possibility to get the ICC ranking (points) for each plapers career and to dinf the median points? That would have been a real indicator. LG-ICC rankings use a complex system to rank players.

Ex. Kumar Sangakkara

 

[Burgey]

Loving that the gap between 1 and 2 is miles bigger than between 2 and 100. Bit like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

 

[pskov]

Loving that the gap between 1 and 2 is miles bigger than between 2 and 100. Bit like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson Padraig Harrington.

Fixed.

 

[haroon510]

kallis and dravid ahead of inzi.. that is one of the reason why i think states are bs..

 

[Days of Grace]

That's an interesting point. Quite clearly you think that the stats don't explain how many times Inzi has pulled Pakistan out of the ****, compared to Dravid and Kallis, who seem to bat in their own 'bubble', so to speak. Am I correct?

 

[Sanz]

kallis and dravid ahead of inzi.. that is one of the reason why i think states are bs..

United States ?

 

[Perm]

kallis and dravid ahead of inzi.. that is one of the reason why i think states are bs..

That's an interesting point. Quite clearly you think that the stats don't explain how many times Inzi has pulled Pakistan out of the ****, compared to Dravid and Kallis, who seem to bat in their own 'bubble', so to speak. Am I correct?

Probably more to do with the way they bat. haroon has been very critical of Dravid and Kallis during his time on CW, he doesn't think they are very good because they score slowly.

 

[Days of Grace]

Thought this might be of interest:

Top 30 Peak averages achieved in Test Cricket history

(after at least 20 test matches for players post WWII, after at least 15 test matches for players between WWI and WWII)

1 DG Bradman 112.29
2 MEK Hussey 84.80
3 H Sutcliffe 82.60
4 Javed Miandad 71.74
5 JC Adams 68.73
6 DCS Compton 67.47
7 KD Walters 67.46
8 E Paynter 67.00
9 WR Hammond 66.62
10 ED Weekes 66.25
11 GA Headley 65.78
12 RN Harvey 65.29
13 FMM Worrell 64.72
14 RG Pollock 64.31
15 IVA Richards 64.14
16 AR Morris 63.96
17 GS Sobers 63.91
18 L Hutton 61.71
19 JB Hobbs 61.28
20 AC Gilchrist 61.06
21 BC Lara 60.96
22 KF Barrington 60.66
23 CL Walcott 60.43
24 RT Ponting 59.99
25 AD Nourse 59.72
26 ML Hayden 58.97
27 SR Tendulkar 58.87
28 GC Smith 58.78
29 R Dravid 58.75
30 JH Kallis 58.20

Interesting to see Jimmy Adams up there. Has ever a test batsman faded so quickly after such a great start? I remember watching him and he didn't look that talented, so I always wonder how he managed to have an average of nearly 70 after 20 test matches.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Probably more to do with the way they bat. haroon has been very critical of Dravid and Kallis during his time on CW, he doesn't think they are very good because they score slowly.

I don't think he denies they are good players, he just doesn't like them because of the slow scoring, IIRC.

 

[Perm]

I don't think he denies they are good players, he just doesn't like them because of the slow scoring, IIRC.

I seem to remember him putting down Kallis and Dravid because of their slow scoring, saying they weren't good Test batsmen or something. Added to that he personally doesn't like them.

 

[Days of Grace]

If there's one batsmen in the top 20 I don't like up there, it's Mohammad Yousuf. Him at no.17 just doesn't seem right.

Hoping for him to have a few bad series coming up.

 

[Uppercut]

One minor statistical quibble with using peak average. Doesn't that rate someone who bats well for 20 tests then badly for the next 20 unrealistically more highly than someone who bats badly for 20 then well for the next 20?

 

[Days of Grace]

One minor statistical quibble with using peak average. Doesn't that rate someone who bats well for 20 tests then badly for the next 20 unrealistically more highly than someone who bats badly for 20 then well for the next 20?

Not really. The peak average can be any time from 20 tests onwards. Most batsmen, believe it or not, who have peak averages in the 60s, made those when they were at 30 matches or even more. If you look at the top 30 'peak' averages, only Jimmy Adams looks out of place, so the cream still rises to the top.

I included this for the first time in order to help those batsmen who played perhaps too long, and thus lost many points on their overall average.

 

[Uppercut]

Not really. The peak average can be any time from 20 tests onwards. Most batsmen, believe it or not, who have peak averages in the 60s, made those when they were at 30 matches or even more. If you look at the top 30 'peak' averages, only Jimmy Adams looks out of place, so the cream still rises to the top.

I included this for the first time in order to help those batsmen who played perhaps too long, and thus lost many points on their overall average.

Well, if Mike Hussey were to tail off a bit and end up averaging 55, while Shiv Chanderpaul continued to perform remarkably and ended up with the same average, Huss would be rated more highly by sheer virtue of the fact that his run of form happened at the start whereas Shiv's happened at the end. Couldn't you instead take, if possible, highest average over any 20-game period, for example?

 

[Days of Grace]

Well, if Mike Hussey were to tail off a bit and end up averaging 55, while Shiv Chanderpaul continued to perform remarkably and ended up with the same average, Huss would be rated more highly by sheer virtue of the fact that his run of form happened at the start whereas Shiv's happened at the end. Couldn't you instead take, if possible, highest average over any 20-game period, for example?

That might work better, but I don't think statsguru has that function yet. I don't have the energy to go through each player and try to work it out myself.

Anyway, the peak average is only worth a small amount of the overall rating, something like 10% It is only worth 30% of the overall average, so if Shiv ends up with the same average as Hussey when they both finish up, I'd back Shiv to get the higher rating due to runs and centuries scored.