2nd Greatest Test Batsman of All-Time

[King Pietersen]

Thought this'd be an interesting discussion to have on here. We all know that Sir Donald Bradman is never going to be surpassed, but who do you rate as the 2nd in line? There have been some purely brilliant batsmen in the history of the game. I'm thinking Pollock, Richards, Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Chappell, Sobers, Pietersen (:P) the list goes on.

For me, it's an incredibly tough choice, but I'd have to narrow it down to 2, and they'd have to be Sir Vivian Richards and Sachin Tendulkar. On the one hand you've got a man who loved nothing more than taking the attack to a bowler and dominating a bowling attack. Then you've got a guy who's been playing International Cricket since the age of 17 and has gone on to churn out hundred after hundred with apparant ease. To choose between these 2 is incredibly difficult, but there is 1 guy that stands out........

Sachin Tendulkar. He's the leading run scorer in all of Test cricket, with 12,589 runs at an average of 54.27 with 42 hundreds under his belt at a fantastic conversion rate. He's made multiple hundreds against every single Test nation, with the only country he's failed to make a hundred in being Zimbabwe. He averages over 40 in every single country he's played in bar South Africa where he averages 39.76, but he's still managed 3 hundreds there, with the one in 1997 coming against both Pollock and Donald when they were probably nearing their best, Donald was definitely in his prime then anyway.

Tendulkar has made 10 hundreds against the best side in World Cricket, Australia, averaging 56 against them, and even higher, 58 in Australia, with 6 hundreds. Tendulkar's just a genius with the bat, and also an entertaining genius. When Tendulkar comes to the crease you know you're in for a show. When he gets going there's just an effortless, effervescent flow about his game that's unmatched.

So, for me, Sachin Tendulkar is 2nd in line to the great Sir Donald Bradman. Discuss........

 

[ZoraxDoom]

What is there to discuss? Sachin is the second greatest batsman of all time, after Don. If anything, it should be third best. Don, Sachin, and then who? That'll be fun. Lara, Punter, Viv, etc...

 

[aussie_ben91]

Sachin Tendulkar.

 

[metallics2006]

Jack Hobbs for me. Played in uncovered pitches that were bowler friendly, played quick bowlers without wearing a helmet etc. among other things. He also averaged above 60 iirc. No WG Grace in the poll?

 

[King Pietersen]

Grace only played 22 Tests, and didn't have a particularly brilliant record in them. I respect the legacy of the man, but there's no way he can be considered ahead of the likes of Richards, Sobers and Tendulkar.

As for Hobbs, he averaged 56.94 in Tests, and is for my money the greatest opening batsman of all-time, but he wouldn't go down as the best actual batsman behind Bradman though I don't think.

 

[metallics2006]

Grace only played 22 Tests, and didn't have a particularly brilliant record in them. I respect the legacy of the man, but there's no way he can be considered ahead of the likes of Richards, Sobers and Tendulkar.

As for Hobbs, he averaged 56.94 in Tests, and is for my money the greatest opening batsman of all-time, but he wouldn't go down as the best actual batsman behind Bradman though I don't think.

If we take that 5 FC runs = 1 test run, Grace still gets more than 10,000 test runs. And he also has 2800 odd FC wickets. A dream all-rounder to have in any side.

We have to ignore the stats of the last 10 years if we are trying to decide the 2nd best all-time test batsmen as the pitches have become way too flat in this period.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Yeah, I don't agree how some batsman like Headley & Pollock can be considered among the greatest batsman of alltime when they only played 20 Test Matches. Even though, they were prevented due to controversial circumstances, I don't believe they played enough International cricket to have proven themselves among the greatest of alltime.

Players like Javed Miandad, Sunil Gavaskar, Steve Waugh and Allan Border all stake better claims because they played 100+ Tests and averaged over 50.

I'd even have Len Hutten & Hebert Sutcliffe over Graeme Pollock. I can understand Headley, with a first-class average of 69 but averaging 53 in first-class cricket, when you've only played so little Test cricket isn't really that impressive when it comes to alltime greats.

 

[mattfb]

I've gone with Sir Garfield Sobers. It's a controversial decision to go along with a controversial thread which will see Sachin rightly finish with around 40 votes. Like you have mentioned, Sachin is the leading run scorer of all time and still has an average of 54 after he's been playing international cricket for what, 20 years? His conversion rate is superb which always tells how good a player really is. The fact that he scores so well against the best teams in the world shows how good he is.

Then you have Garfield Sobers, a man so widely known for his destructive batting and very handy spinners. His average of 57 after 93 test matches is brilliant, which comes with 26 test tons and 30 half century's which is a great conversion rate. He batted all around the place too which is a difficult thing to do, but he came in at 6 more then any other position in his career which isn't an easy place to score a ton, yet he scored 8 there and 2647 runs. But the fact that Sobers averaged over 50 in positions number 3 (72), 4 (63), 5 (59), 6 (53), 7 (67) shows how versatile he is.

It's tough to not give it to Sachin but I believe that the way Sobers batted, and what he achieved is amazing. The fact he batted in so many different positions and succeeded is quite surprising. Because I'm sure we all know the different situations you can find yourself in, when you bat in different positions. He also played in the 50's and 60's which wouldn't have the best pitches I would think, but I'm no expert on olden day cricket so I could be wrong, the bowlers couldn't have been chucking down lolly pops

 

[King Pietersen]

Again Ben, this is where you slip up time and time again, by basing your points purely on stats and stats alone. I've watched a couple of documentaries and read a fair few articles on Graeme Pollock, and rate him incredibly highly. Sir Don Bradman rates Pollock as the joint greatest left-hander that's ever played the game. He was an immensely talented batsman, that relied on his fantastic off-side play, with a brilliant cover drive. He was aggressive, and scored his runs quickly, and it was his sheer power that allowed him to pierce gaps and score boundaries. He also used to drive the pace bowlers on the up through the off-side and would punish anything remotely short. He was a class act, and the stats really do not do him any justice whatsoever. I rate him far higher than Miandad, Waugh and Border.

 

[shravi]

I never comment on players I haven't seen play therefore I can't make such a judgment. Just because some of them only played 20 tests doesn't mean they would not go on to be the 2nd greatest batsman. I'm not going to hold their bad luck of having less matches staged against them; I would be committing a fallacy, shown like so.

Premise 1: The second greatest batsman has to have played over 50 tests.
Premise 2: George Headley played only 22 tests.
Conclusion (false): George Headley cannot be the second greatest test batsman as he has only played 22 tests, which is well less than the required 50 tests.

I respect what is being said. I just don't agree with it because I do not know how their careers would have progressed with more matches under their belt.

 

[Gilly Fan]

Tendulkar. Freak. Can bat in all conditions and dominate as well. Played a shot yesterday that just summed the man up perfectly. Short ball which at first he tried to sway back to, but then he saw it was a bit wide and adjusted his shot so he could guide it over the slips for four. No other batsman in the world would be able to do it right now. Not even Ponting. The bloke has a mind of his own. He is such a quick thinker and has great reactions.

 

[Freddie_Fittler]

It's quite obviously Phil Hughes.

 

[rockyrakster]

Sachin is the best among all.I would even equal him with bradman

 

[RoboRocks]

It's all a matter of opinion but for me it's Jack Hobbs.

To have played on uncovered pitches and to have to open the batting and average over 50 is quite phenomenal. Bradman couldn't master uncovered pitches and I've heard Bradman only made one fifty in about 8 innings on uncovered pitches.
Plus Hobbs played until he was over 40 and was still as good as he was when younger. In fact more prolific when he was younger.

It's hard for Grace to be rated since people all talk about his average test record but he started test cricket when he was past his peak and finished when he was 50 and yet in county cricket he was England's best batsman at that time.

Looking at his stats between 1865 and 1880, Grace made 20909 in 280 matches at an average of 49 with 63 hundreds. You add that with the number of 1448 wickets taken, which is a lot of bowling to be able to wicket up that many wickets, even though at that time he was 32, it puts a lot of stress on the body.

 

[mattfb]

It's quite obviously Phil Hughes.

I like your style.