Who was the best match-winning test match batsman of all time?

[Harsh Thakor]

Some batsmen have an inborn talent to win matches.However statistics can never truly measure the capacity of a great batsman as a true match-winner.The strength of his team affects his statistics sin both directions. On pure batting prowess one may unanimuously vote for Don Bradman and Viv Richards or even Walter Hammond or Adam Gilchrist..On basis of batting average Inzamam would be even better than Viv Richards or Sacxhin Tendulkar.Even Greg Chappell averaged more than Viv in games won. It is strange that in statistical evaluations Viv Richards in terms of batting average and in terms of percentage of team runs is rated below stalwarts like Brian Lara,Everton Weekes,Gordon Grenidge,Rohan Kanhai or even Jimmy Adams. Australia's Ricky Ponting has better stats in matches won than Viv.Gundappa Vishwanath overshadows any Indian batting great.Jack Hobbs and Len Hutton top the English batsman list while Bradman unanimously tops all lists.Stats do not reveal how much Adam Gilchrist was a champion in winning causes.For Sri Lanka I would choose Aravinda de Silva above Sangakaara,Jayasuriya and Jayewardene with his prowess in building an innings combined with meticulous skill. Overall are statistics misleading in judging the merit of a match-winning batsman?Just look at the gap between Lara and Viv Richards. My personal list in order would be 1.Viv Richards 2.Don Bradman 3.Walter Hammond 4.Barry Richards 5.Adam Gilchrist 6.Gary Sobers 7.Inzamam Ul Haq 8.Jack Hobbs 9.Len Hutton 10.Brian Lara 11.Ricky Ponting 12.Sachin Tendulkar 13.Graeme Pollock 14.Greg Chappell 15.Gordon Greenidge 16.Rohan Kanhai 17.Graham Gooch 18.Gundappa Vishwanath 19.Saed Anwar 20.Kevin Pieterson Viv created the impact of a hurricane and tore an attack like a bomber raiding an airbase.Adam Gilchrist was similar while Brian Lara on his day was spectacular.Gary Sobers was like Len Hutton and Jack Hobbs a consistent match-winner. Below I have compiled an evaluation of Anantha Narayana on "In a Winning cause" from cricinfo cordon.It is amazing how low Viv Richards is ranked.Amazingly Adam Gichrist,arguably the best match-winner of his era is ranked so low.Gilchrist literally swung games on his won creating the impact of a hurricane. Analysing batsmen in Test wins I was influenced by a recent comment by a reader on runs scored in winning causes. Everyone and their neighbour's Labrador talk about centuries scored during the wins of teams completely forgetting that more than "centuries", the emphasis should be on "runs" scored. Why ignore a winning 98 or for that matter a winning 48. Let me take two players not often discussed. The first is Ganguly. He, and most of the knowledgeable Indian supporters, would agree that his majestic unbeaten 98 while orchestrating a great chasing win over Sri Lanka during 2001 was a far greater innings, arguably his best, than many a big 100. Ganguly might have missed a personal landmark but he did not miss the bigger objective. Would anyone, including Ganguly, have been satisfied if Ganguly had scored 5 more runs but India 5 less. Now for Jimmy Adams. Would anyone rate his 208 against New Zealand higher than his outstanding unbeaten 48 against Wasim/Waqar/Razzak/Saqlain taking his team to an improbable one-wicket win leading to a rare series win. Even though Adams' innings was less than half of Mark Waugh's match-winning of 116 against South Africa, it was no less important. Hence I have done an analysis of the runs scored by a batsman during his team's wins. It does not matter whether the batsman scored 12(Ambrose), 49(Paranavitana), 96(Shakib Al Hasan) or 309(Sehwag). The runs are considered and added. Not the 400, nor the 241. Also I have not done an average of these scores. It will be certain that this average would be higher than his career batting average. I have rather looked at the % of share of the runs scored by his team. This will give a clear indication of his contributions. There is no comparison done across eras, across teams, across bowlers et al. It is almost like the peer comparison. In truth it is a peer comparison, but the comparison is only within the team, that too only in selected subset of matches. I have also not prepared tables across teams. Each table is for the concerned team. The criteria is simple. The batsman should have been involved in 10 wins and scored over 2000 Test runs (exception for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe). The team runs are computed, sans extras. Runs contributed in victories Analysing batsmen in Test wins Runs contributed in victories Ananth Narayanan October 1, 2009 Text size: A | A Cty Batsman L Mat Runs Wins Runs TmRuns RpT % TS Aus Bradman D.G 52 6996 30 4813 17036 160.4 28.25 Aus Chappell G.S 87 7110 38 3595 19209 94.6 18.72 Aus Simpson R.B 62 4869 22 2015 11264 91.6 17.89 Aus Lawry W.M ~ 67 5234 20 1853 10714 92.7 17.30 Aus Harvey R.N ~ 79 6149 41 3253 19174 79.3 16.97 Aus Hill C ~ 49 3412 25 2223 13200 88.9 16.84 Aus Walters K.D 74 5357 28 2303 14211 82.2 16.21 Aus McDonald C.C 47 3107 23 1557 9994 67.7 15.58 Aus Ponting R.T 136 11341 90 7754 50453 86.2 15.37 Aus Slater M.J 74 5312 44 3508 22833 79.7 15.36 Aus Ponsford W.H 29 2122 16 1508 9884 94.2 15.26 Aus Hayden M.L ~ 103 8626 71 6038 39634 85.0 15.23 Aus Trumper V.T 48 3163 22 1717 11427 78.0 15.03 Aus Hassett A.L 43 3073 26 1947 13123 74.9 14.84 Aus Hussey M.E.K ~ 42 3317 27 2359 15899 87.4 14.84 Aus Boon D.C 107 7422 41 3129 21865 76.3 14.31 Aus Redpath I.R 66 4737 29 2358 16519 81.3 14.27 Aus Waugh S.R 168 10927 86 6460 45692 75.1 14.14 Aus Yallop G.N ~ 39 2756 10 727 5143 72.7 14.14 Aus Morris A.R ~ 46 3533 27 1983 14351 73.4 13.82 Aus Wood G.M ~ 59 3374 14 862 6315 61.6 13.65 Aus Taylor M.A ~ 104 7525 52 3812 27980 73.3 13.62 Aus Langer J.L ~ 105 7696 70 5209 38372 74.4 13.58 Aus Bardsley W ~ 41 2469 20 1527 11515 76.3 13.26 Aus Woodfull W.M 35 2300 15 1083 8173 72.2 13.25 Aus Jones D.M 52 3631 19 1285 9859 67.6 13.03 Aus Border A.R ~ 156 11174 50 3186 24742 63.7 12.88 Aus Waugh M.E 128 8029 72 4794 37725 66.6 12.71 Aus Chappell I.M 75 5345 35 2379 19141 68.0 12.43 Aus Armstrong W.W 50 2863 28 1858 15187 66.4 12.23 Aus Martyn D.R 67 4406 44 3009 24703 68.4 12.18 Aus Burge P.J.P 42 2290 14 767 6382 54.8 12.02 Aus Katich S.M ~ 43 2990 19 1267 10899 66.7 11.62 Aus O'Neill N.C 42 2779 14 702 6042 50.1 11.62 Aus Clarke M.J 52 3652 31 2127 18383 68.6 11.57 Aus Marsh G.R 50 2854 16 908 7849 56.8 11.57 Aus Stackpole K.R 43 2807 16 946 8365 59.1 11.31 Aus Macartney C.G 35 2131 17 975 8674 57.4 11.24 Aus McCabe S.J 39 2748 22 1273 11511 57.9 11.06 Aus Miller K.R 55 2958 31 1779 16113 57.4 11.04 Aus Blewett G.S 46 2552 27 1550 14178 57.4 10.93 Aus Gilchrist A.C ~ 96 5570 73 4306 40927 59.0 10.52 Aus Hughes K.J 70 4415 18 836 8071 46.4 10.36 Aus Gregory S.E 58 2282 23 940 10687 40.9 8.80 Aus Benaud R 63 2201 24 892 10593 37.2 8.42 Aus Marsh R.W ~ 96 3633 38 1558 18991 41.0 8.20 Aus Healy I.A 119 4356 55 2135 29452 38.8 7.25 Aus Warne S.K 145 3154 92 1799 50671 19.6 3.55 Eng Hutton L 79 6971 27 2678 11891 99.2 22.52 Eng Hobbs J.B 61 5410 28 2720 13715 97.1 19.83 Eng Gooch G.A 118 8900 32 2950 15504 92.2 19.03 Eng Boycott G 108 8114 35 2950 16366 84.3 18.03 Eng Hammond W.R 85 7249 29 2584 14614 89.1 17.68 Eng Pietersen K.P 54 4647 18 1608 9370 89.3 17.16 Eng Cowdrey M.C 114 7624 43 3087 18416 71.8 16.76 Eng Sutcliffe H 54 4555 25 2141 12840 85.6 16.67 Eng Edrich J.H ~ 77 5138 22 1771 10730 80.5 16.51 Eng Barrington K.F 82 6806 31 2319 14188 74.8 16.34 Eng Thorpe G.P ~ 100 6744 38 3006 18917 79.1 15.89 Eng Strauss A.J ~ 67 5266 30 2596 16344 86.5 15.88 Eng Compton D.C.S 78 5807 25 1801 11420 72.0 15.77 Eng Richardson P.E ~ 34 2061 13 808 5195 62.2 15.55 Eng Trescothick M.E ~ 76 5820 37 2847 18757 76.9 15.18 Eng Hussain N 96 5764 35 2380 15857 68.0 15.01 Eng Gower D.I ~ 117 8231 32 2302 15350 71.9 15.00 Eng Cook A.N ~ 48 3509 16 1236 8344 77.2 14.81 Eng Atherton M.A 115 7728 31 2090 14464 67.4 14.45 Eng Butcher M.A ~ 71 4288 27 1885 13069 69.8 14.42 Eng Amiss D.L 50 3612 18 1206 8440 67.0 14.29 Eng Dexter E.R 62 4502 23 1531 10751 66.6 14.24 Eng May P.B.H 66 4537 33 1845 13082 55.9 14.10 Eng Greig A.W 58 3599 17 1064 7678 62.6 13.86 Eng Stewart A.J 133 8465 39 2517 18417 64.5 13.67 Eng Graveney T.W 79 4882 36 2014 14891 55.9 13.52 Eng Edrich W.J 39 2440 10 688 5098 68.8 13.50 Eng Leyland M ~ 41 2764 15 954 7066 63.6 13.50 Eng Hendren E.H 51 3525 16 1146 8535 71.6 13.43 Eng Smith R.A 62 4236 14 970 7388 69.3 13.13 Eng Gatting M.W 79 4409 15 984 7739 65.6 12.71 Eng Botham I.T 102 5200 33 1951 15386 59.1 12.68 Eng D'Oliveira B.L 44 2484 17 975 7759 57.4 12.57 Eng Lamb A.J 79 4656 21 1379 10977 65.7 12.56 Eng Randall D.W 47 2470 17 998 8035 58.7 12.42 Eng Fletcher K.W.R 59 3272 16 874 7344 54.6 11.90 Eng Vaughan M.P 82 5719 39 2285 19484 58.6 11.73 Eng Woolley F.E ~ 64 3283 26 1356 11684 52.2 11.61 Eng Smith M.J.K 50 2278 16 829 7180 51.8 11.55 Eng Ames L.E.G 47 2434 15 758 6974 50.5 10.87 Eng Bell I.R 49 3144 18 1022 9454 56.8 10.81 Eng Rhodes W 58 2325 24 1155 11207 48.1 10.31 Eng Hick G.A 65 3383 19 910 8900 47.9 10.22 Eng Collingwood P.D 53 3566 17 886 8895 52.1 9.96 Eng Flintoff A 79 3845 30 1572 16011 52.4 9.82 Eng Knott A.P.E 95 4389 29 1029 13552 35.5 7.59 Eng Ramprakash M.R 52 2350 16 576 7658 36.0 7.52 Eng Evans T.G 91 2439 36 1067 14388 29.6 7.42 Eng Bailey T.E 61 2290 24 704 9536 29.3 7.38 Ind Viswanath G.R 91 6080 20 1637 9029 81.8 18.13 Ind Sidhu N.S 51 3202 13 1179 6680 90.7 17.65 Ind Dravid R 134 10823 44 4005 23227 91.0 17.24 Ind Tendulkar S.R 159 12773 51 4416 26993 86.6 16.36 Ind Gavaskar S.M 125 10122 23 1671 10417 72.7 16.04 Ind Vengsarkar D.B 116 6868 18 1187 7823 65.9 15.17 Ind Azharuddin M 99 6215 22 1609 10693 73.1 15.05 Ind Mansur Ali Khan 46 2793 12 846 5712 70.5 14.81 Ind Sehwag V 69 5757 25 1958 13228 78.3 14.80 Ind Amarnath M 69 4378 12 771 5772 64.2 13.36 Ind Engineer F.M 46 2611 13 774 5930 59.5 13.05 Ind Gambhir G ~ 25 2271 13 924 7203 71.1 12.83 Ind Laxman V.V.S 105 6741 36 2428 19479 67.4 12.46 Ind Chauhan C.P.S 40 2084 10 511 4425 51.1 11.55 Ind Shastri R.J 80 3830 10 492 4274 49.2 11.51 Ind Ganguly S.C ~ 113 7212 37 2245 19989 60.7 11.23 Ind Kirmani S.M.H 88 2759 15 724 7080 48.3 10.23 Ind Kapil Dev N 131 5248 24 904 10991 37.7 8.22 Ind Kumble A 132 2506 43 718 21909 16.7 3.28 Nzl Crowe M.D 77 5444 16 1219 7085 76.2 17.21 Nzl Richardson M.H ~ 38 2776 12 763 5019 63.6 15.20 Nzl McMillan C.D 55 3116 18 1186 7838 65.9 15.13 Nzl Wright J.G ~ 82 5334 21 1253 8430 59.7 14.86 Nzl Fleming S.P ~ 111 7172 33 2145 14637 65.0 14.65 Nzl Cairns C.L 62 3320 16 936 7393 58.5 12.66 Nzl Howarth G.P 47 2531 12 558 4655 46.5 11.99 Nzl Coney J.V 52 2668 17 814 6900 47.9 11.80 Nzl Astle N.J 81 4702 27 1239 11747 45.9 10.55 Nzl McCullum B.B 46 2283 13 563 5885 43.3 9.57 Nzl Hadlee R.J ~ 86 3124 22 790 8792 35.9 8.99 Nzl Vettori D.L ~ 94 3492 29 1101 12696 38.0 8.67 Nzl Parore A.C 78 2865 19 497 8744 26.2 5.68 Pak Shoaib Mohammad 45 2705 12 1055 4927 87.9 21.41 Pak Saeed Anwar ~ 55 4052 23 2254 11079 98.0 20.34 Pak Inzamam-ul-Haq 120 8830 49 4690 25012 95.7 18.75 Pak Younis Khan 63 5260 22 2241 12570 101.9 17.83 Pak Javed Miandad 124 8832 39 2923 17298 74.9 16.90 Pak Asif Iqbal 58 3575 10 759 4934 75.9 15.38 Pak Mohammad Yousuf 82 7023 32 2617 17627 81.8 14.85 Pak Mudassar Nazar 76 4114 23 1511 10311 65.7 14.65 Pak Zaheer Abbas 78 5062 22 1530 10483 69.5 14.60 Pak Ijaz Ahmed 60 3315 23 1487 10385 64.7 14.32 Pak Mohsin Khan 48 2709 18 1134 8060 63.0 14.07 Pak Aamer Sohail ~ 47 2823 22 1365 9970 62.0 13.69 Pak Majid Khan 63 3931 13 849 6230 65.3 13.63 Pak Saleem Malik 103 5768 39 1880 17010 48.2 11.05 Pak Kamran Akmal 43 2226 13 776 7443 59.7 10.43 Pak Rameez Raja 57 2833 19 778 7562 40.9 10.29 Pak Imran Khan 88 3807 26 900 11650 34.6 7.73 Pak Moin Khan 69 2741 20 692 9377 34.6 7.38 Pak Wasim Akram ~ 104 2898 41 1137 18011 27.7 6.31 Pak Wasim Raja ~ 57 2821 10 285 4956 28.5 5.75 Saf McGlew D.J 34 2440 11 1156 5285 105.1 21.87 Saf Smith G.C ~ 77 6343 40 3783 20252 94.6 18.68 Saf Wessels K.C ~ 40 2788 12 1044 5800 87.0 18.00 Saf Kallis J.H 131 10277 64 5099 31306 79.7 16.29 Saf Kirsten G ~ 101 7289 48 3800 23961 79.2 15.86 Saf Barlow E.J 30 2516 11 941 6324 85.5 14.88 Saf Cullinan D.J 70 4554 34 2325 16048 68.4 14.49 Saf Cronje W.J 68 3714 32 2156 15214 67.4 14.17 Saf de Villiers A.B 52 3558 26 1793 13056 69.0 13.73 Saf Hudson A.C 35 2007 13 876 6544 67.4 13.39 Saf McLean R.A 40 2120 12 768 5749 64.0 13.36 Saf Amla H.M 37 2460 21 1389 10713 66.1 12.97 Saf Gibbs H.H 90 6167 44 2877 22607 65.4 12.73 Saf Prince A.G ~ 48 3074 28 1719 13546 61.4 12.69 Saf Rudolph J.A ~ 35 2028 12 721 6371 60.1 11.32 Saf Waite J.H.B 50 2405 14 722 6749 51.6 10.70 Saf Goddard T.L ~ 41 2516 11 630 6235 57.3 10.10 Saf Rhodes J.N 52 2532 23 1070 10662 46.5 10.04 Saf McKenzie N.D 58 3253 30 1438 15124 47.9 9.51 Saf Boucher M.V 126 4688 65 2219 31939 34.1 6.95 Saf Pollock S.M 108 3781 49 1427 23779 29.1 6.00 Slk Sangakkara K.C ~ 85 7308 41 4179 22486 101.9 18.58 Slk de Silva P.A 93 6361 19 1467 8736 77.2 16.79 Slk Jayawardene D.P.M.D 107 8750 48 4155 25575 86.6 16.25 Slk Atapattu M.S 90 5502 31 2138 15653 69.0 13.66 Slk Jayasuriya S.T ~ 110 6973 40 2801 20634 70.0 13.57 Slk Samaraweera T.T 54 3787 30 2222 16748 74.1 13.27 Slk Ranatunga A ~ 93 5105 17 985 7801 57.9 12.63 Slk Tillakaratne H.P ~ 83 4545 24 1534 12221 63.9 12.55 Slk Dilshan T.M 57 3443 28 1843 15126 65.8 12.18 Slk Vaas WPUJC ~ 111 3087 43 1388 22578 32.3 6.15 Win Lara B.C ~ 131 11953 32 2929 14611 91.5 20.05 Win Sarwan R.R 81 5671 13 1210 6505 93.1 18.60 Win Sobers G.St.A ~ 93 8032 31 3097 16926 99.9 18.30 Win Adams J.C ~ 54 3010 21 1534 9045 73.0 16.96 Win EdeC Weekes 48 4455 16 1403 8324 87.7 16.85 Win Greenidge C.G 108 7558 57 4653 27970 81.6 16.64 Win Campbell S.L 52 2882 16 1068 6645 66.8 16.07 Win Walcott C.L 44 3798 12 1113 6955 92.8 16.00 Win Richardson R.B 86 5949 43 3059 19251 71.1 15.89 Win Worrell F.M.M 51 3860 18 1483 9359 82.4 15.85 Win Kanhai R.B 79 6227 27 2404 15248 89.0 15.77 Win Nurse S.M 29 2523 10 873 5569 87.3 15.68 Win Chanderpaul S ~ 121 8576 27 1933 12839 71.6 15.06 Win Lloyd C.H ~ 110 7515 43 3337 22217 77.6 15.02 Win Haynes D.L 116 7487 60 4041 27824 67.3 14.52 Win Fredericks R.C ~ 59 4334 15 1256 8735 83.7 14.38 Win Kallicharran A.I ~ 66 4399 19 1437 10127 75.6 14.19 Win Hunte C.C 44 3245 22 1744 12417 79.3 14.05 Win Hinds W.W ~ 45 2608 10 641 4566 64.1 14.04 Win Richards I.V.A 121 8540 63 4300 30787 68.3 13.97 Win Butcher B.F 44 3104 16 1174 8856 73.4 13.26 Win Stollmeyer J.B 32 2159 10 681 5442 68.1 12.51 Win Gayle C.H ~ 82 5502 17 920 8106 54.1 11.35 Win Gomes H.A ~ 60 3171 27 1386 12257 51.3 11.31 Win Hooper C.L 102 5762 33 1560 15008 47.3 10.39 Win Logie A.L 52 2470 26 1238 12164 47.6 10.18 Win Dujon P.J.L 81 3322 44 1758 20311 40.0 8.66 Win Jacobs R.D ~ 65 2579 16 527 7439 32.9 7.08 © ESPN Sports Media Ltd. Hutton is amongst the best across teams, averaging nearly 100 runs per Test and scoring over 22% of the team runs in winning matches. Hobbs is also quite high. Then comes the unheralded Gooch who scored above 19% of his team's winning runs. Ind Viswanath G.R 91 6080 20 1637 9029 81.8 18.13 Ind Sidhu N.S 51 3202 13 1179 6680 90.7 17.65 Ind Dravid R 134 10823 44 4005 23227 91.0 17.24 Ind Tendulkar S.R 159 12773 51 4416 26993 86.6 16.36 Ind Gavaskar S.M 125 10122 23 1671 10417 72.7 16.04 Ind Vengsarkar D.B 116 6868 18 1187 7823 65.9 15.17 Ind Azharuddin M 99 6215 22 1609 10693 73.1 15.05 Ind Mansur Ali Khan 46 2793 12 846 5712 70.5 14.81 Ind Sehwag V 69 5757 25 1958 13228 78.3 14.80 Ind Amarnath M 69 4378 12 771 5772 64.2 13.36 Ind Engineer F.M 46 2611 13 774 5930 59.5 13.05 Ind Gambhir G ~ 25 2271 13 924 7203 71.1 12.83 Ind Laxman V.V.S 105 6741 36 2428 19479 67.4 12.46 Ind Chauhan C.P.S 40 2084 10 511 4425 51.1 11.55 Ind Shastri R.J 80 3830 10 492 4274 49.2 11.51 The stylish Viswanath leads the Indian table, followed surprisingly by the irrepressible sardar, Sidhu. Then come the three greatest Indian batsmen ever, not necessarily in that order, Dravid, Tendulkar and Gavaskar. Note the somewhat low share of Ganguly (11.23%), possibly because of batting at no.6 position many a time. Nzl Crowe M.D 77 5444 16 1219 7085 76.2 17.21 Nzl Richardson M.H ~ 38 2776 12 763 5019 63.6 15.20 Nzl McMillan C.D 55 3116 18 1186 7838 65.9 15.13 Nzl Wright J.G ~ 82 5334 21 1253 8430 59.7 14.86 Nzl Fleming S.P ~ 111 7172 33 2145 14637 65.0 14.65 Nzl Cairns C.L 62 3320 16 936 7393 58.5 12.66 Nzl Howarth G.P 47 2531 12 558 4655 46.5 11.99 Nzl Coney J.V 52 2668 17 814 6900 47.9 11.80 Nzl Astle N.J 81 4702 27 1239 11747 45.9 10.55 Nzl McCullum B.B 46 2283 13 563 5885 43.3 9.57 Nzl Hadlee R.J ~ 86 3124 22 790 8792 35.9 8.99 Nzl Vettori D.L ~ 94 3492 29 1101 12696 38.0 8.67 Nzl Parore A.C 78 2865 19 497 8744 26.2 5.68 The number of wins are somewhat lower indicating New Zealand's rough ride over the years. However out of these, the greatest New Zealand batsman ever, Martin Crowe lives up to his reputation and is on top with a high value of 17+%. Win Lara B.C ~ 131 11953 32 2929 14611 91.5 20.05 Win Sarwan R.R 81 5671 13 1210 6505 93.1 18.60 Win Sobers G.St.A ~ 93 8032 31 3097 16926 99.9 18.30 Win Adams J.C ~ 54 3010 21 1534 9045 73.0 16.96 Win EdeC Weekes 48 4455 16 1403 8324 87.7 16.85 Win Greenidge C.G 108 7558 57 4653 27970 81.6 16.64 Win Campbell S.L 52 2882 16 1068 6645 66.8 16.07 Win Walcott C.L 44 3798 12 1113 6955 92.8 16.00 Win Richardson R.B 86 5949 43 3059 19251 71.1 15.89 Win Worrell F.M.M 51 3860 18 1483 9359 82.4 15.85 Win Kanhai R.B 79 6227 27 2404 15248 89.0 15.77 Win Nurse S.M 29 2523 10 873 5569 87.3 15.68 Win Chanderpaul S ~ 121 8576 27 1933 12839 71.6 15.06 Win Lloyd C.H ~ 110 7515 43 3337 22217 77.6 15.02 Win Haynes D.L 116 7487 60 4041 27824 67.3 14.52 Lara has contributed quite significantly, above 20%, to the (somewhat lower) proportion of wins during his career. From the strong West Indian teams of the 1980s, only Greenidge is present in the top-10. In fact Richards has a somewhat lower % of runs value of 13.9 although one must admit that he had a win ratio of greater than 50%. What does this indicate. Possibly that the other batsmen were quite strong. However this is negated by the presence of all the top West Indian batsmen of the 1950s in the top-10. I am happy to see Jimmy Adams in the top-10. Slk Sangakkara K.C ~ 85 7308 41 4179 22486 101.9 18.58 Slk de Silva P.A 93 6361 19 1467 8736 77.2 16.79 Slk Jayawardene D.P.M.D 107 8750 48 4155 25575 86.6 16.25 Slk Atapattu M.S 90 5502 31 2138 15653 69.0 13.66 Slk Jayasuriya S.T ~ 110 6973 40 2801 20634 70.0 13.57 Slk Samaraweera T.T 54 3787 30 2222 16748 74.1 13.27 Slk Ranatunga A ~ 93 5105 17 985 7801 57.9 12.63 Slk Tillakaratne H.P ~ 83 4545 24 1534 12221 63.9 12.55 Slk Dilshan T.M 57 3443 28 1843 15126 65.8 12.18 Slk Vaas WPUJC ~ 111 3087 43 1388 22578 32.3 6.15 Not much to choose amongst the top Sri Lankan batsmen, Sangakkara leading the others quite comfortably. He has also averaged over 100 wickets per won Test. Saf McGlew D.J 34 2440 11 1156 5285 105.1 21.87 Saf Smith G.C ~ 77 6343 40 3783 20252 94.6 18.68 Saf Wessels K.C ~ 40 2788 12 1044 5800 87.0 18.00 Saf Kallis J.H 131 10277 64 5099 31306 79.7 16.29 Saf Kirsten G ~ 101 7289 48 3800 23961 79.2 15.86 Saf Barlow E.J 30 2516 11 941 6324 85.5 14.88 Saf Cullinan D.J 70 4554 34 2325 16048 68.4 14.49 Saf Cronje W.J 68 3714 32 2156 15214 67.4 14.17 Saf de Villiers A.B 52 3558 26 1793 13056 69.0 13.73 Saf Hudson A.C 35 2007 13 876 6544 67.4 13.39 Saf McLean R.A 40 2120 12 768 5749 64.0 13.36 Saf Amla H.M 37 2460 21 1389 10713 66.1 12.97 Saf Gibbs H.H 90 6167 44 2877 22607 65.4 12.73 Saf Prince A.G ~ 48 3074 28 1719 13546 61.4 12.69 Saf Rudolph J.A ~ 35 2028 12 721 6371 60.1 11.32 McGlew, the great South African batsmen of the 1960s has an excellent 21+% of run share in won matches and has scored over 100 runs per Test. Then come Smith, Wessels and Kallis. Note also Smith's high win %. Aus Bradman D.G 52 6996 30 4813 17036 160.4 28.25 Aus Chappell G.S 87 7110 38 3595 19209 94.6 18.72 Aus Simpson R.B 62 4869 22 2015 11264 91.6 17.89 Aus Lawry W.M ~ 67 5234 20 1853 10714 92.7 17.30 Aus Harvey R.N ~ 79 6149 41 3253 19174 79.3 16.97 Aus Hill C ~ 49 3412 25 2223 13200 88.9 16.84 Aus Walters K.D 74 5357 28 2303 14211 82.2 16.21 Aus McDonald C.C 47 3107 23 1557 9994 67.7 15.58 Aus Ponting R.T 136 11341 90 7754 50453 86.2 15.37 Aus Slater M.J 74 5312 44 3508 22833 79.7 15.36 Aus Ponsford W.H 29 2122 16 1508 9884 94.2 15.26 Aus Hayden M.L ~ 103 8626 71 6038 39634 85.0 15.23 Aus Trumper V.T 48 3163 22 1717 11427 78.0 15.03 Aus Hassett A.L 43 3073 26 1947 13123 74.9 14.84 Aus Hussey M.E.K ~ 42 3317 27 2359 15899 87.4 14.84 Bradman has scored over 28% of the team runs in won games. One more insurmountable number for the other batsmen to contend with. Then come a number of middle era Australians, led by Chappell. Ponting barely makes to the top-10. Hayden and Hussey find their places in the top-15. I am happy to see Victor Trumper in the top-15. Pak Shoaib Mohammad 45 2705 12 1055 4927 87.9 21.41 Pak Saeed Anwar ~ 55 4052 23 2254 11079 98.0 20.34 Pak Inzamam-ul-Haq 120 8830 49 4690 25012 95.7 18.75 Pak Younis Khan 63 5260 22 2241 12570 101.9 17.83 Pak Javed Miandad 124 8832 39 2923 17298 74.9 16.90 Pak Asif Iqbal 58 3575 10 759 4934 75.9 15.38 Pak Mohammad Yousuf 82 7023 32 2617 17627 81.8 14.85 Pak Mudassar Nazar 76 4114 23 1511 10311 65.7 14.65 Pak Zaheer Abbas 78 5062 22 1530 10483 69.5 14.60 Pak Ijaz Ahmed 60 3315 23 1487 10385 64.7 14.32 Pak Mohsin Khan 48 2709 18 1134 8060 63.0 14.07 Pak Aamer Sohail ~ 47 2823 22 1365 9970 62.0 13.69 Pak Majid Khan 63 3931 13 849 6230 65.3 13.63 Pak Saleem Malik 103 5768 39 1880 17010 48.2 11.05 Pak Kamran Akmal 43 2226 13 776 7443 59.7 10.43 Shoaib Mohammad leads with a 21+%. Saeed Anwar is also high up there. Then come the three modern greats, led by Inzamam. Note Younis Khan's 100+ runs per test in won games. Cty Batsman Mat Runs Wins Runs TmRuns RpT % TS Bng Habibul Bashar 50 3026 1 149 692 149.0 21.53 Bng Mohammad Ashraful 50 2149 3 65 1724 21.7 3.77 Bangladesh has won only 3 Tests. Ashraful was part of all the three tests although he contributed next to nothing. Habibul Basher contributed a lot in their win over Zimbabwe. Shakib Al Hasan, that mercurial world class cricketer, contributed a lot during their brace of wins over West Indies.

[King Tendulkar]

Barry richards who played 4 test matches and number 4:hysterical: Inzi at number 7 above tendulkar:hysterical: Good one paki, you even managed to get anwar in to top 20:cantstop: Silly man, as your best match winning test bat is miandad and you forgot him!!