HERBERT SUTCLIFFE
Matthew Hayden might be my all-time favourite opening batter, but in terms of outright batting average, one man stands above the rest: Herbert Sutcliffe. At no point in his career did his batting average ever drop below 60, which to the best of my knowledge is completely unique in the history of Test cricket. And even
that undersells how good he was: after 40 Test matches, he had made all 16 of his Test centuries, and was averaging 69.80 at that point. But he had also recently turned 38 years of age, and his remaining 14 Tests after that yielded an average of only 35.80 with a best innings of 86. To be clear, this is not a criticism of Sutcliffe for playing on while he continued to get selected: it's just how getting old is sometimes.
Sutcliffe's granite style is also perfect for the team I'm looking to build: I don't intend for the middle order to be shrinking violets, so it's good to have an anchor.
1.
Herbert Sutcliffe
2.
Matthew Hayden
3.
Brian Lara
4.
5.
6.
7.
Bob Taylor
8.
9.
Courtney Walsh
10.
Glenn McGrath
11.
@icyman again