CW decides the 32 best test* opening batsmen of all time - The countdown thread!

[SillyCowCorner1]

The size of that helmet though. What a buckethead

 

[mr_mister]

*A quick note - Hayden in the previous post actually featured on 21/29 lists not 18. I can no longer edit that post unfortunately as too much time has passed I guess.


#11: Victor Trumper (152 points)

Lists featured on: 23/29
Top 5 finishes: 2
Highest finish: 4th (1)


I looked long and hard for a photo other than that cliche super famous one of him playing that straight drive. Even though this photo is well over 100 years old there's something weirdly modern/familiar about it to me. His turtleneck looks quite trendy perhaps!

Trumper was known as the Australian batting god before Bradman and still today is considered an absolute legendary opening batsman, going by his placement here. Let's try to understand why.

He died at only 37, a mere 3 years after playing his final test. Did this enhance/romanticise his reputation in the years that followed? His test return of 48 matches, 8 hundreds and an average of 39 is impressive enough at first glance(for the time) but not awe inspiring. As I mentioned once in a thread here, Clem Hill actually produced nearly identical results from a test career that virtually synced up with Trumper's. In fact I went out on quite a limb to perhaps denigrate Trumper a bit because I was bored and curious why Hill didn't have his reputation.

The thread can be found here where I analyse both their test records:

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/cricket-chat/79829-clem-hill-better-than-victor-trumper.html


Not that any of this matters so much as this is about opening batsman which Hill was not - but Hill certainly has nowhere near the reputation of Trumper and I wanted to know why. Perhaps a little bit of credibility, from a purely statistical standpoint that can be added to Trumper's resume is the fact he was an opener and even the very best openers tend to average a bit less on average than the best number 3 and 4 batsmen. When looking at some more anecdotal and intangible fields there are several ways to enhance Trumper over Hill though and others from the early 1900s.

Trumper was by all reports a very aesthetically pleasing batsman - he had all the shots. He scored fast too. And he managed to score on wickets that nobody else could bat on apparently. He was said to be more feared on 'treacherous' wickets than fast true ones, ie he was a greater threat on a sticky than flat track perhaps because he could catch a bowling side unaware.

And now a quote form his cricinfo profile: No matter how bad the pitch might be from the combined effects of rain and sunshine, he was quite likely to get 50 runs, his skill in pulling good-length balls amounting to genius. Of this fact our English bowlers had convincing evidence day after day during the season of 1902. Trumper paid four visits to this country - in 1899, 1902, 1905, and 1909 - but it was in 1902 that he reached his highest point.

Looking at 1902 of course the entire tour, including both test and FC games needs to be analysed together. In the five tests he only averaged 30 with 1 hundred, but across the whole tour he hit 2570 runs @ 48. He hit 11 centuries in 35 matches but his highest score was only 128 - important to mention as it shows he consistently scored decently rather than going really big sporadically. This is an extra vital point as the 1902 tour was said to be full of terrible rainy weather and I assume therefore full of low team scores. Runs can be worth double in tough conditions! His 247 runs in the test series was actually the third most on either side behind Hill and FS Jackson and I assume based on the reputation he got from this tour the 2570 FC runs he scored was far above Hill or any other of his Australian teammates.

Trumper's test centuries were generally spaced out, he only had 2 series where he got multiple tons. 2 tons, 574 runs and an average of 63 in the 03-04 home summer ashes series was quite impressive - from what I can see this was at the time the highest ever series aggregate by a batsman. So it's cool he was one of the small list of holders of that record before Bradman's 974 run series. And near the end of his career against SA he hit 661 runs with 2 tons @ 94 - increasing his own series record - though Aubrey Faulker on the other side cracked 700+! It seems to me that Trumper has an argument for being the first true test great - or at least the head of the spear of the first set of test greats. His career lined up with tests getting their status as the true pinnacle of cricket over county stuff.

In tests Trumper averaged 45 at home and 30 away. Against nations he averaged 33 against England and 75 against South Africa - so he definitely cashed in on this weak new team - though Sydney Barnes also made his reputation against them too so I can't be too critical. And in his defense of course averages in the 30s were completely standard and respectable until Jack Hobbs came around. Though even looking at Jack Hobbs amazing pre WW1 record of 28 tests, 57 average and 6 tons I can see he played 13 of those against SA and got to feast on them far more regularly than Trumper who only faced them in 8 of his 48 tests. Though of course I don't wish to knock Hobbs - he was clearly an amazing opener as this list will eventually demonstrate.

Ignoring Hobbs a bit as its obvious to me he raised the bar Trumper helped prop up - FS Jackson who averaged close to 50 in tests only had an FC average of 33, ~10 points lower than Trumper so he was clearly a level below. And this is where it becomes clear why Trumper is so revered even on statistical merit! The other big name openers from this golden era (before Hobbs and not including Grace) to my knowledge are Tom Hayward and Archie MaClaren. Trumper's average of 44 trumps both of them, who average 41 and 34 respectably in FC cricket.

So I guess I now can start to understand Trumper's reputation!

 

[TheJediBrah]

Probably TJB

Can't remember i might have, but I doubt it. Pretty sure it was TNT

 

[trundler]

TNT had Simpson top I think

 

[TheJediBrah]

Might have been me. I only put players I'd seen on my list so he very well could have been no. 1.

 

[a massive zebra]

Victor Trumper , at the present time, by general consent, the best batsman in the world, was born on the 2nd of November, 1877. He came out in Australia in the same season as Clement Hill- 1894-5-but his powers ripened far more slowly than those of the great left-handed batsman, and for a year or two he did little to foreshadow the career that was in store for him. Against Mr. Stoddart"s second team in the season of 1897-8, he was not picked for any of the Test matches, his appearances against the Englishmen being limited to the two engagements with New South Wales. In these he did very little, being out for 5 and 0 in the first match, and 4 and 23 in the second. In the same season, however, he met with some success in the Inter-Colonial matches, as they were then called, scoring 160 runs with an average of 26. He made 48 and 14 against South Australia at Adelaide, a couple of twelves against Victoria, at Sydney, and 68 and 7 at Sydney against South Australia. In the following season he showed marked improvement, and with a score of 292 not out against Tasmania convinced good judges of the game in Sydney that a new star had risen. Still it was only as fourteenth man that he was picked to come to England in 1899, and not until the tour had been some little time in progress, and his success assured, was he placed on the same financial footing as the other members of the team. As everyone will remember the season of 1899 was a triumph for him. He played a magnificient innings of 135 not out against England, at Lord"s; at Brighton against Sussex he made 300 not out-the highest score ever obtained by an Australian batsman in this country-and for a side exceptionally rich in run-getters he came out fifth, his aggregate for thirty-two matches being 1556 and his average 34. The whole team were delighted with him, and it is said that Noble predicted then that he would become a greater batsman than Ranjitsinhji. On getting home again he added to his reputation in the Inter-State matches, scoring 436 runs in eight innings, with an average of 54, and helping New South Wales to win the Sheffield Shield with a record of three victories and one defeat. He made 165 against South Australia at Adelaide; 57 against Victoria at Melbourne; 45 and 7 against South Australia at Sydney; and 31 and 41 against Victoria at Sydney. In the Australian season of 1900-1, he did still greater things, playing an innings of 230 against Victoria, at Sydney, and scoring, in all, in the Inter-State matches, 458 runs with an average of 65. Against MacLaren"s team in the Australian season of 1901-2, however, he did not do himself justice, his cricket being affected by the fact that he was engaged a great deal in office work at night time. His performances in this country during the past season are fully described in the record of the Australian tour, and it will be sufficient to say here that he put into the shade everything that had ever before been done in England by Australian batsmen, scoring, despite the bad weather and wet wickets, 2,570 runs. Apart from his batting, Trumper is one of the finest of out-fields, and a very serviceable change bowler. Success has not in any way spoilt him, and alike on English and Australian cricket fields he is deservedly one of the most popular of players.

Trumper stood alone among the batsmen of the season, not only far surpassing his own colleagues, but also putting into the shade everyone who played for England. In the course of the tour he obtained, despite the wet weather, 2570 runs, thus easily beating Darling's 1941 in the glorious summer of 1899, which up to this year was a record aggregate for any colonial batsman touring this country. Pages might be written about Trumper's batting without exhausting the subject. Having regard to the character of the season, with its many wet days and soft wickets, it is safe to say that no one - not even Ranjitsinhji - has been at once so brilliant and so consistent since W. G. Grace was at his best. Trumper seemed independent of varying conditions, being able to play just as dazzling a game after a night's rain as when the wickets were hard and true. All bowling came alike to him and on many occasions, notably in the Test matches at Sheffield and Manchester and the first of the two games with the M.C.C. at Lord's, he reduced our best bowlers for the time being to the level of the village green. They were simply incapable of checking his extraordinary hitting. Only a combination of wonderful eye and supreme confidence could have rendered such pulling as his at all possible. The way in which he took good length balls off the middle stump and sent them round to the boundary had to be seen to be believed. Though this exceptional faculty, however, was one of the main sources of his strength on soft wickets, he was far indeed from being dependent on unorthodox strokes. His cutting and off-driving approached perfection and he did everything with such an easy grace of style that his batting was always a delight to the eye. Risking so much, he plays what I would call a young man's game, lightning quickness of eye and hand being essential to his success, and for this reason I should not expect him after twenty years or more of first-class cricket to rival such batsmen as Shrewsbury, A.P. Lucas and W.L. Murdoch, but for the moment he is unapproachable. He was not in the smallest degree spoilt by this triumphs, bearing himself just as modestly and playing the game as sternly at the end of a long tour as at its beginning.

TRUMPER, VICTOR, died at Sydney on the 28th of June. Of all the great Australian batsmen Victor Trumper was by general consent the best and most brilliant. No one else among the famous group, from Charles Bannerman thirty-nine years ago to Bardsley and Macartney at the present time, had quite such remarkable powers. To say this involves no depreciation of Clem Hill, Noble, or the late W. L. Murdoch. Trumper at the zenith of his fame challenged comparison with Ranjitsinhji. He was great under all conditions of weather and ground. He could play quite an orthodox game when he wished to, but it was his ability to make big scores when orthodox methods were unavailing that lifted him above his fellows.

For this reason Trumper was, in proportion, more to be feared on treacherous wickets than on fast, true ones. No matter how bad the pitch might be from the combined effects of rain and sunshine, he was quite likely to get 50 runs, his skill in pulling good-length balls amounting to genius. Of this fact our English bowlers had convincing evidence day after day during the season of 1902. Trumper paid four visits to this country -- in 1899, 1902, 1905, and 1909 -- but it was in 1902 that he reached his highest point.

In that summer of wretched weather he scored 2,570 runs in thirty-five matches for the Australian team, with the wonderful average, in the circumstances, of 48. He was as consistent as he was brilliant, and did not owe his average to a few exceptional scores. Of eleven innings of over a hundred, the biggest was 128. Trumper did not again touch the same level in this country. He played very well in 1905 and 1909, but he was no longer pre-eminent. He was fifth in the averages in 1905, and in 1909 he was overshadowed by Bardsley and Ransford.

In the latter year, however, he was then seen at his best, notably against England at the Oval, when he played D. W. Carr's googlies with perfect ease, and in the second match against the M.C.C. at Lord's. When he came here first, in 1899, he jumped at once into the front rank, playing a splendid innings of 135 not out against England at Lord's and scoring 300 not out against Sussex at Brighton. His innings at Lord's was in itself sufficient to prove that Australia had found a world's batsman. Nothing could have been better.

His career culminated when the South Africans visited Australia in the season of 1910-11. He then recovered his finest form, and on the beautiful wickets at Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney the googly bowlers had no terrors for him. In the five Test matches he scored 662 runs, with an average of 94. It was agreed on all hands that he had not played so well since his trip to England in 1902. Under all conditions Trumper was a fascinating batsman to watch. His extreme suppleness lent a peculiar grace to everything he did. When he was hitting up a big score batting seemed quite an easy matter. He took so many liberties, however, and scored from so many good balls, that in order to do himself justice he had to be in the best possible health and condition. The strokes with which he drove even the best bowlers to despair demanded a marvellous union of hand and eye. His game at its highest point of excellence could only be played by a young man.

Trumper was the most popular Australian cricketer of his time. A match played for his benefit -- between New South Wales and the Rest of Australia -- at Sydney in February, 1913 - produced gate-money and donations of nearly £3,000. Born on November 2nd, 1877, Trumper was in his thirty-eighth year. He had been in bad health for some little time, and the latest accounts of his condition received in this country were so discouraging as to prepare his friends for the worst. He died of Bright's disease. Trumper was never spoilt by success in the cricket field. When his name was in everyone's mouth he remained as modest and unaffected as on the day he first set foot in England. -- S.H.P.

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[Line and Length]

Will the countdown continue?

 

[England First]

Chill out my Aussie friend. He’s just deciding on whether Hobbs or boycott get the top spot.

 

[trundler]

Boycott isn't even the best opener to come out of Yorkshire.

 

[Line and Length]

Boycott isn't even the best opener to come out of Yorkshire.

Words of wisdom from one so young!

 

[Coronis]

Boycott isn't even the best opener to come out of Yorkshire.

Only cracks 3rd by my reckoning

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Just do a list of the Top 10 to get it over with. Then everyone can slag off Gavaskar and go to bed early.

 

[TestMatch]

Strauss, Sehwag and the mighty Darren Ganga are probably next.

 

[mr_mister]

back in the saddle after a long hiatus.



#10: Graeme Smith (155 points)

Lists featured on: 26/29
Top 5 finishes: 2
Highest finish: 5th (2)


Beginning our top 10, and ending up the 2nd greatest opener SA produced according to CW, is Graeme Smith. Of the 10 openers left on this list, he was the last to debut and retire, only hanging the boots up in 2014.

He came onto the test scene with a massive bang. He actually didn't open in his first 2 tests, but in his 3rd was pushed to the top and he never really looked back. After 12 tests he'd already scored 4 big daddy tons. 3 of those were double centuries and 2 of those were over 250. He had hit 1200+ runs and averaged 78.

In fact in the opening 2 test of the 2003 series in England he scored 277 and 85, then 259 at strike rates of 74, 121 and 70. That's 621 runs in 2 tests. I remember saying Steve Smith was on track to break Bradman's 974 run series after his 1st test set of 140s last year, so this must have had pundits absolutely certain Graeme would crack 1000 for the series, as it was a 5 test encounter. But in the remaining 3 tests he only added 97 runs in 6 more innings to end up with 'only' 714 runs for the series. A little disappointing considering the platform but oh well, still a huge performance.

Smith had already been made captain of SA before this amazing series began, taking the reigns at only 22. To hit 700+ runs while trying to juggle captaincy in your early 20s is a remarkable feat.

His overall away record was a staggering 53.93, for an opener that's an amazing indication of an ability to adjust well to any conditions.

His form plateaued just a tad after the first 2 tests of that English '03 series, and he had a couple of lean years in 06 and 07 before he re-entered Bradman mode in 2008. He hit 1656 runs at 72 with 6 tons and 6 fifties, which culminated by leading his nation to a famous series victory down in Australia for the first time ever. He lead from the front, topping the SA run tally with 326. The series had a lot of high points for Smith, he topped scored with a century in a record run chase of 414 to aid SA in winning the first test. He also famously came out to bat with a broken hand in the final session of the 3rd test to try and force a draw. He was facing Mitchell Johnson, the man who had broken the wrist earlier in the match, so this clearly took some guts. He failed in keeping out Johnson and saving the test but showed serious guts and SA still won the series 2-1.

Smith remained consistent for the rest of his career afterwards and his overall average was just shy of 50.

 

[mr_mister]

#9: Virender Sehwag (159 points)

Lists featured on: 26/29
Top 5 finishes: 1
Highest finish: 1st (1)

Sehwag is certainly different in his approach to opening. The man had concrete feet and seemingly relied on amazing power, wrist speed and hand eye co-ordination to get his runs and get them quickly. He was extremely successful in his approach, far more consistent with big scores than Gayle and Dilshan, 2 other super attacking openers from his era. He could take the game away from the opposition in the opening session of a test. Viru came within a mere 7 runs of being the first player ever to hit 3 test triple centuries. His style was good enough to do that and good enough to get him the number 9 spot.

He scored a century in his test debut batting at 6, going stroke for stroke with his boyhood idol Sachin Tendulkar, putting on 220 with the Little Master for the 5th wicket to help get India out of trouble. He displayed 'minimalist straight drives, effortless flicks off the pads and terrific backfoot punches through cover', all hallmark weapons of Sachin. His career as a middle order player didn't last much longer but as an opener he shined even brighter.

Sehwag made full of use his great hand eye combined with traditional attacking test fields. He loved having a huge slash at anything outside off stump and was super effective at easily clearing point and gully to notch up boundary after boundary with aerial cuts and offside drives. If he missed the ball he wouldn't be bowled due to the line, and if he found an edge it could often carry over fielder's heads anyway, such was his power combined with the pace of opening bowlers. So his method, though not textbook, worked fine and was not as reckless and uncalculated as it could often look. He was not one to be fazed by a swing and a miss or a failure, and continued to trust his cowboy method.

His legside play on the other hand was most effective when up against spinners, who he killed when in form. With the increased time to play his shots he was devastating, and like many Indians he was great at reading spin due to a lifetime of playing on raging turners.

What was Viru's breakthrough in many people's eyes was his rapid 195, with 5 sixes against Australia in the boxing day test of 2003. He departed with the team total on only 311. They were missing both Warne and McGrath but he took apart Macgill and especially Brett Lee with ease that innings.

Like all aggressive batsmen his style didn't always come off, and swing/movement through the air could often undo him. He averaged a mere 27 in England and 20 in New Zealand, from 11 tests total in those 2 locations. There had to be a flaw to his unorthodox style of course. But his overall away average was still a healthy 45.

Once Sehwag got his eye in he could be unstoppable. He passed 250 four times in tests, which is I believe the 2nd most ever after the Don who did it 5 times. These 4 tons were played with increasing speed, the 309 in 04 in Pakistan came off 375 balls. Then 2 years later in the same country he hit 254 in 247.

In '08 against SA at home against Steyn and co he hit 319 off 304 deliveries, bringing up the 300 in 278 balls, the fastest anyone has got to the magic 300 number. He was well on track to lower this number against SL the next year, also at home, against Murali and Herath. He was dismissed for 293 off 254 balls early on day 3 after ending day 2 unbeaten on 284. He scored all 284 of those runs on day 2, the most runs somebody had hit on one day since Bradman hit over 300 in 1930. The overnight break unfortunately halted his momentum.

Great, fearless player who made his runs using his own method. Without footwork and a see ball hit ball approach most players can become a bit hit n miss but Sehwag absolutely, in most situations, proved his worth.

 

[stephen]

Sehwag ahead of Hayden is yet another case of democracy getting it wrong. Who rated him 1?

 

[mr_mister]

SillyCowCorner1, who had a unique list to say the least.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Sehwag> Hayden is correct ,but Sehwag > Smith isnt.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

SillyCowCorner1, who had a unique list to say the least.

I'm guessing that Katich and Watson are well ahead of Hobbs and Hutton.

 

[mr_mister]

Next one of these I do, I'll be going back to people submitting their top 20.

I thought people wouldn't want to make lists more than 15, along with the fact the longer the list the harder it is to count, and also that after someone's top 10 players usually it's just kinda random where they rank their next best.... but the points distribution becomes too tight when it's only 15 points for 1st, 14 for 2nd etc. You could throw a blanket over several positions and the overall points on display here just seem too small to be decisive this time even though we had the most voters yet