Days of Grace
International Captain
Hello everyone,
After several years of research and refinement, I’m pleased to present my updated ranking of the top 100 test batsmen of all-time.
A brief explanation of the methodology:
The goal of the system is to measure multi-dimensional career greatness, not just raw averages.
All players receive a rating, where 1000 represents the gold standard of Test batting excellence and scores below 1000 reflect proportional distance from that benchmark.
All innings each batsman are adjusted by:
Strength of opposition using the bowling averages of test teams based on the 5 years up to including the match in which an innings was played, with greater weight placed on more recent years.
Match conditions with more weight placed on the team innings in question.
Rating Structure:
Each batsman’s career rating is composed of five criteria:
1. Career Volume – 12.5%
Total runs 50%
Years active 50%
2. Overall Career Record – 50%
3. Peak Performance – 12.5% (A batsmen’s best performance over a period of at least 5 years and at least 40 innings)
4. Non-Home Record – 12.5%
5. Record vs Top Opposition – 12.5% (Top opposition is represented by the top ranked teams in each era based on my own test team ratings from 1877):
Top opposition are calculated as followed:
1877-1939: Top two teams (Australia and England)
1946-1992: Top 3 teams
1993-present day (South Africa entered the ratings again from 1993): Top 4 teams
Within each of the criteria 2-5:
Batting Average: weighting of 4
Runs per Innings: weighting of 2
Strike Rate: weighting of 1
Qualification: 500 career runs.
Batsmen with less than 80 innings across their overall career and less than 40 innings in either peak performance, non-home record or record vs top opposition lose points.
Benchmarks:
Benchmarks are based on the historical average of top-10 performers in each category, refined using my own “eye test” and intuition.
Key benchmarks:
Career runs: 13,000
Career length: 25 years
Overall Career, Non-home, and Top opposition
Average: 60
Runs per innings: 55
Strike rate: 70
Peak (Minimum 5 years, 40 innings)
Average: 70
Runs per innings: 65
Strike rate: 75
These benchmarks represent the gold standard of sustained Test batting excellence. In other words, if a batsmen has the exactly the same values as the benchmarks, then their final rating will be 1000.
I welcome thoughtful discussion and critique and of course hot takes and banter. The aim of this project is not to declare absolute truth (no statistical analysis can hope to do that), but to offer a framework for comparing the greatest Test batsmen in history across eras.
I hope you enjoy the rankings. I have timed this so the big hitters will drop in late March when there is no international cricket.
Link to top 100 list: Top 100 Test Batsmen countdown (revised and updated) | Page 42 | CricketWeb Forum
and
Link to top 100 list with updated formula: Top 100 Test Batsmen countdown (revised and updated) | Page 46 | CricketWeb Forum
After several years of research and refinement, I’m pleased to present my updated ranking of the top 100 test batsmen of all-time.
A brief explanation of the methodology:
The goal of the system is to measure multi-dimensional career greatness, not just raw averages.
All players receive a rating, where 1000 represents the gold standard of Test batting excellence and scores below 1000 reflect proportional distance from that benchmark.
All innings each batsman are adjusted by:
Strength of opposition using the bowling averages of test teams based on the 5 years up to including the match in which an innings was played, with greater weight placed on more recent years.
Match conditions with more weight placed on the team innings in question.
Rating Structure:
Each batsman’s career rating is composed of five criteria:
1. Career Volume – 12.5%
Total runs 50%
Years active 50%
2. Overall Career Record – 50%
3. Peak Performance – 12.5% (A batsmen’s best performance over a period of at least 5 years and at least 40 innings)
4. Non-Home Record – 12.5%
5. Record vs Top Opposition – 12.5% (Top opposition is represented by the top ranked teams in each era based on my own test team ratings from 1877):
Top opposition are calculated as followed:
1877-1939: Top two teams (Australia and England)
1946-1992: Top 3 teams
1993-present day (South Africa entered the ratings again from 1993): Top 4 teams
Within each of the criteria 2-5:
Batting Average: weighting of 4
Runs per Innings: weighting of 2
Strike Rate: weighting of 1
Qualification: 500 career runs.
Batsmen with less than 80 innings across their overall career and less than 40 innings in either peak performance, non-home record or record vs top opposition lose points.
Benchmarks:
Benchmarks are based on the historical average of top-10 performers in each category, refined using my own “eye test” and intuition.
Key benchmarks:
Career runs: 13,000
Career length: 25 years
Overall Career, Non-home, and Top opposition
Average: 60
Runs per innings: 55
Strike rate: 70
Peak (Minimum 5 years, 40 innings)
Average: 70
Runs per innings: 65
Strike rate: 75
These benchmarks represent the gold standard of sustained Test batting excellence. In other words, if a batsmen has the exactly the same values as the benchmarks, then their final rating will be 1000.
I welcome thoughtful discussion and critique and of course hot takes and banter. The aim of this project is not to declare absolute truth (no statistical analysis can hope to do that), but to offer a framework for comparing the greatest Test batsmen in history across eras.
I hope you enjoy the rankings. I have timed this so the big hitters will drop in late March when there is no international cricket.
Link to top 100 list: Top 100 Test Batsmen countdown (revised and updated) | Page 42 | CricketWeb Forum
and
Link to top 100 list with updated formula: Top 100 Test Batsmen countdown (revised and updated) | Page 46 | CricketWeb Forum
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