Great opening partnerships

[ataraxia]

For an extended period the famed Hobbs-Sutcliffe partnership actually averaged in excess of 100. It dropped down to 88, but I think given that Hobbs was 48 years old and Sutcliffe 36, that was at least excusable. The Hobbs-Sutcliffe partnership, despite being mostly plundering sub-test-class bowlers on flat pitches, is perhaps the only occasion where a career-long record truly approaches Bradman-esque levels.

To put that massive 87.81 in perspective, Hayden-Langer averaged 51.41 on similarly flat pitches. Bruce Edgar/John Wright averaged, er... 30.65. Next best after the Bradman of Hobbs/Sutcliffe? Hutton-Washbrook, Simpson-Lawry, and Hobbs-Rhodes averaged in the vicinity of 60 in good sample sizes. Hobbs-Rhodes is remarkable as it was mostly made in the tough pitches pre-WWI.

 

[Line and Length]

Cyril Washbrook is very much a forgotten player when it comes to discussions on opening bats. His career was affected by WWII as he was 25 when the war began and, apart from a single test pre-war, he was in his mid '30s for the bulk of his Test career. His average (42.85) is solid but in 3 years (1947-49) he played 20 of his 37 tests scoring 1755 runs at an average of 53.18 .... undoubtedly a solid partner for Len Hutton.

 

[Slifer]

Allan Rae and Jeff Stollmeyer:

"In his 15 Tests, he scored 1,016 runs at 46.18 including four hundred and four fifties with 10 catches. He formed a solid opening with Jeff Stollmeyer and their average stand of 71.00 remains a West Indies record for years."

 

[tony p]

I would have thought PONSFORD & WOODFULL, but I don't think they opened as much in Test Cricket as they might have done.

Other fine partnerships,,
BARLOW/GODDARD 56.43 in 34 innings,
BOYCOTT/EDRICH 52.25 in 35 innings, just remember them as I was very young when they finished together in 1972 as a partnership.