As England recently found out in Australia, bowlers serve an important purpose in the game of cricket, but if you don’t have the batsmen to put together big scores in the first place then you’re likely to struggle, especially against the very best opposition in the world. England certainly could have done with the help of some past heroes against the Aussies, that’s for sure.
Over the years, cricket has witnessed some truly talented individuals with the bat. Cricket is essentially a batsman’s game, too, with fans wanting to be wowed by glorious strokes and celebrate high run-scoring. It’s obviously pleasing seeing a perfect delivery and a wicket being taken by a bowler, but there’s something about players influencing matches with the bat that is incredibly hard to beat. When it comes to betting on international cricket, fans generally take into account both the bowling and batting attacks of specific sides before placing a wager, but it’s the batsmen that come out on top and decide matches more often than not. A world-class batsman tends to thrive on the biggest stage of all and loves racking up massive scores. Thankfully, throughout the course of history, we have been treated to some true masters of their trade. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the greatest batsmen we’ve ever seen.
Geoffrey Boycott
As we’ve already touched on, England struggled with the bat in Australia. A former English great who certainly mastered run-scoring was Geoffrey Boycott – a player the current crop of English stars will surely be desperate to learn from. Boycott scored a staggering 8,114 runs in 108 matches, while also registering an impressive average of 48.16. As far as openers go, Geoffrey Boycott is undoubtedly one of the best ever.
Andy Flower
A hero of Zimbabwean cricket, Andy Flower is arguably the country’s greatest ever player and one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen the sport of cricket has seen. Flower was particularly lauded for his handling of spin bowlers, with his reverse-sweep shots also being praised on a regular basis as he notched up massive scores. With a Test average of 51.54, he was a reliable batsman to have within your ranks. Flower was as equally effective in ODIs too, managing to hit an impressive 332 runs at an average of 47.42 during the 2003 World Cup.
Sachin Tendulkar
An article of this type simply has to include Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian cricketer is known as the “God of Cricket” for a reason and shone throughout an illustrious career. Tendulkar achieved 100 international centuries, he has scored more runs than anyone else in World Cups, and most impressively of all, he handled the pressure and expectation that was placed on his shoulders by the Indian public with ease.
Allan Border
A true legend of the sport, Allan Border retired with the most number of tests to his name (156) and managed to rack up an astonishing 11,174 runs, too, making him the highest run-scorer in the process. An Australian icon, Border helped the Aussies become the best cricket team on the planet and is widely regarded as being the main reason behind their success at the time. Between 1983 and 1989, Border scored 5,168 runs at an average of 60.09 – something no other player from the same period managed to do. He also shone in numerous Ashes series.
Virender Sehwag
When assessing the opening batsmen to have stood out across all formats over the years, Virender Sehwag is certainly up there with the very best of them. The Indian great registered strike rates of 82.23 in Tests and 104.33 in ODIs. Sehwag loved entertaining audiences with humongous hundreds being racked up on a number of occasions, while also hitting a memorable six to reach 300 in 2004 against Pakistan.
Other great batsmen include Viv Richards, Mahela Jayawardene, Don Bradman, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Wally Hammond, Jack Hobbs, Jacques Kallis, Gary Sobers, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, and Sunil Gavaskar.