Is being a test-opener toughest job in Cricket ?

[Sehwag1830]

Only 4 players in the history of cricket average above 50 as opener in considerable period of time . http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?batting_positionmax1=2;batting_positionval1=batting_position;class=1;filter=advanced;opposition=1;opposition=2;opposition=3;opposition=4;opposition=5;opposition=6;opposition=7;opposition=8;orderby=batting_average;qualmin1=5000;qualval1=runs;template=results;type=batting So is opening the toughest job considering many middle order- batsmen average above 50 and many great bowlers average around 20 ?

[jairamesh]

Definitely. Especially on pitches with bounce or swing. Openers prime role is to see off the new ball, but obviously Sehwag literally sees it off by sending out of stadiums.

[gult]

Yes, undoubtedly. That's why even great players like Sachin are reluctant to open in tests, where as they will happily open in ODIs. Even Laxman struggled when he was an opener. I'm happy that we have very good openers now, otherwise we will be seeing Dravid in the first few overs of every innings.

[deepak_sach]

Ask Darren Sammy which is the toughest job in cricket.

[phaedrus]

its one of the toughest. being a pace bowler is just as tough i would imagine.

[deepak_sach]

Watchin' trott and cook play is the toughest job in cricket.

[King]

Without doubt and if they end up captain it is even worse. Bowlers are mostly fresh, are the best usally in the opponent, they have a hard red cherry, looking to take your head off and on top of that the fielders will be absolutely chirpy no matter what the situation of the game is at the start. Overall it is physically demanding (given the number of hours they will need to spend at the crease in any format of the game), mentally draining and technically testing. No wonder there's been only a handful of openers that have been successful. On top of that, the teams have been rated no.1 only when they have had excellent openers.

[CSK Fan]

Well, it can be taken this way too. No team will risk their best batsmen as an opener. So no team will make Bradman, or Ponting or Sachin open. So inversely, the opener is not likely the best batsmen in the team in the first place, so is likely to average lower than the middle order batsmen.

[Sidhoni]

Ya, it really is and they have to build the platform for a big score too after seeing off the new ball.

[King]

Well' date=' it can be taken this way too. No team will risk their best batsmen as an opener. So no team will make Bradman, or Ponting or Sachin open. So inversely, the opener is not likely the best batsmen in the team in the first place, so is likely to average lower than the middle order batsmen.[/quote'] I'm not so sure about that... the likes of Gavaskar, Hayden, Hobbs, Langer, Boycott, Hutton, G Smith, Sehwag, Sutcliffe, A Morris, S Anwar, A Cook comes to mind. During their time or at least for quite some years they were the best in their team by a mile. Just don't go by India alone and think there's Tendulkar, Dravid and the likes. India is blessed with terrific batsmen right now but during the times when the middle order was not as great, Gavaskar was the main stay for nearly couple of decades.

[akshayxyz]

its one of the toughest. being a pace bowler is just as tough i would imagine.

true, that too on flat tracks.

[cricketman]

I would say being a keeper. Always have to be in the game, so many squats, cannot make any mistakes without costing the team big time... AND you are expected to bat as well/better than regular batsman now. and in ODI cricket most keepers are opening these days