The 10 best ODI openers of all time. !!

[JBH001]

People should also realise that Jaya began his career as a lower order no. 6/7/8 pinch hitter who was mainly in the side for his left arm bowling.
It was only in Australia in the the VB series 95/96 that he was drafted in as an opener.
For 2 - 3 years upto that time he was a lower order bowling all rounder.

Could you do a similiar stat for Jaya as you have for Tendulkar SJS?

Also Greatbatch may have began the process - but he was nowhere near the class of Jayasuriya. But I dont think it was a conscious change of approach to the game as it was with the Lankans in 96. More the option of a pinch hitting approach at the top of the order.
Which may explain why it took 5 - 6 years after the 91/92 World Cup for other teams to follow in Jaya's path.

 

[C_C]

Jayasurya as opener:

279 innings
12 not outs
9328 runs @ 34.93
100s: 18
50s : 55

 

[Deja moo]

Those who speak of Greatbatch as the pioneer havent heard of Srikkanth .

 

[Somerset]

I'm pretty sure Nathan Astle has 14 odi 100s and average mid 30s and strikes at around 73 - suprised no mention

That was my first impression too...I was a little surprised not to see the Kiwi opener included in that list.

But IMO, my top three would have to be Saeed Anwar, Adam Gilchrist or Sachin Tendulkar.

 

[SJS]

That was my first impression too...I was a little surprised not to see the Kiwi opener included in that list.

But IMO, my top three would have to be Saeed Anwar, Adam Gilchrist or Sachin Tendulkar.

Boss it was a slip which I acknowledged and corrected.

And as i said at the beginning it was not a comprehensive list. In any event all of Astle figures are there

 

[SJS]

Those who speak of Greatbatch as the pioneer havent heard of Srikkanth .

I am not so sure. Srikanth played like that even in test matches !

He didnt make a strategy of playing the ODI early overs in a particular fashion.

 

[marc71178]

Jayasuria was definately a breath of fresh air when in the early 90s, but quite frankly I think it was Mark Greatbatch in the 92 world cup who revolutionised the way openers should play in the first 15 overs.

If that were so then from 92 to 96 we'd have seen all teams adopting that start to an innings.

 

[Swervy]

A couple of players quite often overlooked, probably coz of the team they play/played for

Trescothick: ave 36.5, SR 86,8 100's, 50+ 27.5%
Nick Knight:ave 40.41, SR 72, 5 100's, 50+ 30%

 

[Glennw]

i THINK gLENN mCgRATH IS AN AWESOME OPERNER AT

 

[Swervy]

i THINK gLENN mCgRATH IS AN AWESOME OPERNER AT

well he is a better opener than you are typist

 

[Glennw]

I ThjoudGht SoO

 

[honestbharani]

The most hundreds as an opener

Sachin---------- 35
Anwar----------- 20
Ganguly-------- 19
Jayasuriya----- 18
Haynes--------- 17
Waugh M------ 15
Kirsten---------- 13
Astle------------- 13
Gibbs------------ 13
Greenidge------ 11
Gilchrist-------- 10
Gooch----------- 8
Sehwag--------- 7
Atapattu-------- 6
Hayden--------- 5
Siddhu---------- 4
Smith------------ 3

I am fairly certain that Srikkanth made 4 hundreds as an opener in ODIs. Add 2 5 wicket hauls too... He was the Afridi of those days.

 

[Ming]

Astle has to get a mention somewhere in the Top 10, he features in those stats that is mentioned on this thread. So every 9 matches he gets a MOM....good rate.

 

[SJS]

Astle has to get a mention somewhere in the Top 10, he features in those stats that is mentioned on this thread. So every 9 matches he gets a MOM....good rate.

Frankly, I havent put him in my ten since I didnt see much of him.

 

[Ming]

That's quite suprising....he's been on the international stage for a while.

The top 3 for me are Tendulkar, Gilchrist and Jayasuriya.

 

[SquidAU]

I don't know about a top ten, my top 5 would be Gilchrist, Tendulkar, Jayasuria, M Waugh and Afridi (when he fires)

 

[SJS]

I don't know about a top ten, my top 5 would be Gilchrist, Tendulkar, Jayasuria, M Waugh and Afridi (when he fires)

My all time favourite is

Mr Anybody (when he fires)

 

[SJS]

That's quite suprising....he's been on the international stage for a while.

The top 3 for me are Tendulkar, Gilchrist and Jayasuriya.

You right, he has. Last toured India in 1999. One tour before that in 1995. He has scored one century on each of those tours but I just cant recall much of it. Age is catching up I suppose.

I do remember his fantastic double hundred in the test match and his partnership with Cairns. That was incredible.

But we have seen so much more of people like Jayasuriya and Anwar because they played a lot against india and Gilchrist and the West Indian Greats because one watches all the games of these great teams, I suppose.

 

[vic_orthdox]

i wish i could say that michael divenuto could be considered for this thread.

 

[JBH001]

Tendulkar as No.1 for me.
And partnered with Anwar.
(purely because I favour the LH/RH opening combination in ODI's)

I would love to see M Waugh and Tendulkar open though - that would have been sublime.

So second nomination: M Waugh and Jayasuriya.