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Best batsmen who averaged below 50 in Test cricket

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Harsh Thakor

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This is my list in order of merit of the top 25 batsmen of all time who averaged less than 50 in test cricket.I have put batting average in brackets.

1.Victor Trumper(39.8)
On bad or wet wickets the greatest batsmen of all,overshadowing even Bradman.Reminded one of a doctor performing an operation on a patient considered incurable.In the post war era backed him to surpass Tendukar or Viv Richards.

2.Rohan Kanhai(47.53)
A bating maestro who averaged 58 in matches won,53 at one down and scored a fifty every three tests.In terms of talent in the Bradman class or maybe even ahead.At his best against Australia at Perth in 1972 playing for rest of the world at Perth when scoring 115.

3.Neil Harvey(48.41)
In the Graeme Pollock class as a left-hander with arguably as much talent as Gary Sobers as a batsman.He could master bad wickets as he showed when scoring 151 not out against South Africa in 1950 to win a test in the 4th innings on a broken wicket with his team chasing 336 runs to win .

4.Graham Gooch(42.58)
Arguably the best post-war English batsman who mastered pace bowling better than any english star.Scored many a hundred against the great Carribean pace attack with his 154 at Leeds in 1991 one of test cricket's batting classics.Also prolific in India staging spin in 1982 and in the 1987 world cup.I never saw any baten in his time agressively tackle the great Carribean pace quartet in better fashion.Had a staggering combined aggregate of first call and one day runs.

5.Ian Chappell(42.42)
Averaged over 50 at one down where he scored over 4,000 of his runs and championed a crisis better than any batsmen of his period.Even brother Greg or Viv Richards would not weather a storm better.Very prolific against the West Indies pace attack and rated by Gary Sobers in 1979 as the world's best batsmen.

6.Clive Lloyd(46.67)
One of the most exciting left-handers and best ever batsmen in a crisis.Few batsmen were as consistent as Clive Lloyd after he got the captaincy.Whether on the turning sub-continent tracks,the bouncy Australian pitches of the seaming English pitches Lloyd was always the evergreen star.In the early 1980's the most consistent batsmen in the world .Topped aggregate and averages on 1983-84 tor of India in test matches.Clive Lloyd averaged above 50 in all his last 5 series as captain before retiring.-,something phenomenal.(encompassing India,England and Australia)

7.Peter May(46.77)
One of the best all-round batsmen ever with the ability to turn games.Few batsmen were more elegant or technically sound.

8.Gordon Greenidge(44.72)
At his best,the equivalent of a black Barry Richards.In the 1980's from 1984-87 to me,the best batsmen in the world.No batsmen in the 1980's blended aggression as well with defence and Greenidge posesed the technical skill of an architect and the power of a motorboat.At lords in 1984 scored 214 n.o to win a game for his team which ranks amongst test cricket's 6 best linings.On his day could launch a blistering assault like team mate Viv Richards.

9.Geoff Boycott(47.53)
True often boring and arguably selfish but neverthless made an immortal contribution to his team.The ultimate batsmen to save a test match.Proved his prowess against great pace in the Carribean in 1981.Often a Boycoot 50 or 100 in a low scoring game could make a decisive impact.

10..Doug Walters(48.4)
A great player of fast bowling scoring 699 runs v West Indies at Home in 1968-69.On fast wickets a batting master but failed in England

11.David Gower(44.25)
Had he done justice to his ability would have joined Viv or Barry Richards.No left-hander was more talented and on his day Gower was a batting genius.Scored 154 not out at Kingtson in 1981 aginst the Carribean pace battery and amased 732 runs in a home Ashes series.Also prolific in Australia in 1982-93 and 1986-87 and in Pakistan in 1984.

12.Mark Waugh(41.83)
Almost the equal of Lara and Tendulkar.The best onside player of his day.Prolific against the great West Indies and South African pace attack.I can never forget his century at Sydney in 1997-98 and his match-winning 125 out of 254 to win a match in the 4th innings at Johanesburg.Ironically both were scored against South Africa.Posessed great flair and technical skill and for a short while the best batsman in the one day format where he opened.More talented than brother Steve,with natural ability like Lara.

13.Ted Dexter(47.89)
The most combative batsmen of his time who relished great pace bowling and weathered a storm better than Peter May or Colin Cowdrey.Gary Sobers rated Ted Dexter as the best English batsmen he ever played against,ahead of Peter May,Ken Barrington or Colin Cowdrey.Scored two of cricket's great 70's against Australia in 1963 and West Indies in 1963.

14.Martin Crowe(45.63)
At one point looked to match Greg Chappell or Viv Richards.In terms of talent on par with Lara and Tendulkar with great elegance Wasim Akram rated Crowe as the best batsmen he ever bowled to.

15.Stan Mcabe(48.81)
Played bodyline bowling better than Bradman in the late 1930's and his 232 at Trent Bridge is rated by Bradman as the best innings he has ever seen.

16..Gundapa Vishwanath(41.93)The equivalent of an Indian Rohan Kanhai No batsmen of his time posessed as much artistry or creative genius.Averaged over 50 against West Indies and Australia.His 97 at Madras against West Indies in 1974-75 ranks amongst test cricket's great innings.Few batsmen tackled great bowling with such ease as Vishy on his day.He could bissect the most impregnable of fields with the touches of a painter's brush.India never lost a test in which Vishy scored a century.

17.Zaheer Abbas(44.79)
The most stylish batsmen of his time and arguably ever.On slow wickets one of the 'great' batsmen of all time.Scored 2 double centuries in England and 2 against India at home.Reminded you of a poet or a musician.

18.Desmond Haynes(42.89)
Had he not played for West Indies would have earned the 'great' tag.One of the most graceful opening batsmen of all who with Gordon Greenidge formed the most lethal post war opening pair.Very Prolific against Australia and holds the record for aggregate runs by a West Indian in a test series in Australia.

19.Majid Khan
On his day the ultimate batting genius in the class of Barry or Viv Richards.Scored 167 in 1977 at Georgetown against the great Carribean attack.A batting master on bad wickets.

20.Alvin Kalicharan(44.3)
Technically,amongst the great left -handed batsmen of all who at one stage averaged above 56 runs and looked like taking over Gary Sobers mantle.On his day exhibited batting genius but politics caused his decline.Like team mate Des Haynes I would have backed 'Kali'to be clubbed with the 'greats' had he played for another side.Very much like a left-handed Rohan Kanhai.

21.David Boon(43.8)
One of the most courageous batsmen to set foot on a cricket field.Played the great Wst Indian attack with the courage of a soldier and as combatively as any great player of his day.

22.Dilip Vengsarkar(42.14)
Very prolific against the great West Indies pace attack against whom he scored 6 of his 17 centuries.Topped averages in the 1983-84 and 1987-88 series against them in India.Also scored 3 consecutive centuries at Lords-something unprecedented.At his best from 1986-88 when rated as the best batsmen in the world Infact in that time he averaged more than even Sunil Gavaskar averaged in his peak period from 1978-80.His innings at Leeds in 1986 is amongst test cricket's classics.

23.Mohammad Azharuddin(45.03)
One of the most elegant batsmen of all time with talent like Sachin Tendulkar.On his day could tear the best bowling attacks apart.The best batsmen I have seen on the legside.In terms of artistry in the Zaheer Abbas class.

24.V.V.S.Laxman(47.6)
Posessed marginally more flair than even Tendulkar with artistry unmatched in his day and age.To me on the 2003-04 tour of Australia overall the best batsman.Relished the great Australian bowling attack.His 281 at Kolkata v Australia was one of cricket's epics.

25.Glen Turner.(44.64)
Scored two double centuries in West Indies in 1972 aggregating 672 runs.Also a great one day batsmen averaging over 70 in the 1979 Prudential world cup.Technically one of the soundest batsman of all and on his day one of the game's most exhilarating strokemakers.Most prolific first class batsmen of the 1970's.

Of the selection above in order of merit I choose only 10 of them as truly 'great'.They are Victor Trumper,Rohan Kanhai,Neil Harvey,Graham Gooch ,Ian Chappell,Clive Lloyd,Peter May,Gordon Greenidge Geoff Boycott and Doug Walters
 
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In what world is Mark Waugh almost the equal of Lara and Tendulkar lol.
 
Remember that morally he averages just about 50 for Pakistan.I have considered his real average to be 50+please clarify.
 
Aravinda de Silva, He won many matches, kept SL fighting in many tied and lost test matches. What he did is truly, unbelievable, he basically carried the team. However, many of you have never seen him play test matches, so obviously you wouldn't know what he did before Sanath, Mahela, Attapatu and etc came. He deserves a spotlight. Arvinda was a clutch player, a fighter.
 
how can one of the greatest left hand batsman- Adam Gilchrist not be there yet VVS Laxman is?
 
thivaakar said:
Aravinda de Silva, He won many matches, kept SL fighting in many tied and lost test matches. What he did is truly, unbelievable, he basically carried the team. However, many of you have never seen him play test matches, so obviously you wouldn't know what he did before Sanath, Mahela, Attapatu and etc came. He deserves a spotlight. Arvinda was a clutch player, a fighter.
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With below 40 average in almost all the countries (away).

He averages 25 in India, 28 in Zim, 30 in SA
 
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Sehwag
Gilchrist
Laxman
Smith
Pietersen
 
Sehwag, KP and Gilchrist. Three sub-50 average players who are far better than many of the 50+ averaging greats. :sanga
 
Chris Gayle. Most people are just jelly cause of his IPL exploits. But he has a heck of a good record in most countries. He has two triples. He is inconsistent but his test record is actually much better than most folks want to admit.
 
Jang said:
Maybe he took the games against India too lightly, since Indians were always weak at bowling
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ha ha ha.. he took Indian bowling lightly, even when his team was losing in India ? Strange!!

He averaged less than 40 in Australia/Pakistan/England and WI (exact 40) also.
 
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tempus123 said:
With below 40 average in almost all the countries (away).

He averages 25 in India, 28 in Zim, 30 in SA
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His averages after 1993 ish is higher, again, that is what SL used to score 250-320 ish in Tests, No 400-500 BS except once when SL bashed india for 952-6. De Silva was the Shakib of Bangladesh. Stats don't tell how much one has contributed.
 
Arvinda was actually a good batsman. Don't judge him only based on his average.
 
Buffet said:
Arvinda was actually a good batsman. Don't judge him only based on his average.
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I wouldn't.. but the limit of ignoring the average doesn't quite work with Aravinda with below 30 average in 3 countries and below 40 in almost all countries.
 
Adam Gilchrist was one of the best batsman of the last 20 years, had the higheststrike rate in test cricket, should have averaged over 50 easily. All that as a wicket keeper, his innings in Perth, Hobart and Mumbai are classics.
 
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vandokkum said:
Adam Gilchrist was one of the best batsman of the last 20 years, had the higheststrike rate in test cricket, should have averaged over 50 easily. All that as a wicket keeper, his innings in Perth, Hobart and Mumbai are classics.
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Unless he was a great WK, this combining is only to give him more credit than deserved. Also his innings in Mumbai was followed by a lot of 1s and 0s in the rest of the series.
 
tempus123 said:
Unless he was a great WK, this combining is only to give him more credit than deserved. Also his innings in Mumbai was followed by a lot of 1s and 0s in the rest of the series.
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Why don't you name me all the wicket keeper batsmen who were better than him? Or how about even one? How many test batsmen have a strike rate of 80?
 
vandokkum said:
Why don't you name me all the wicket keeper batsmen who were better than him? Or how about even one? How many test batsmen have a strike rate of 80?
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We are only talking about batsmen here.. it doesn't matter if they were all rounders too.
 
tempus123 said:
Gilchrist usually had a good support of top-6..many times had easy runs to score.
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That is not true..Gilly was a great bat. He has played some brilliant innings for Australia when their star studded batting failed sometimes. His innings in Mumbai when Australia was 99/5 was an amazing one on a turning wicket..There was another innings he played against SA in SA, I don't remember the game when Australia were 6 or 7 down under 175, he took the score over 350 with the help of the tail and Aus won the game...He has played many more innings like that in his career. I don't think there is any batsman in the last 20 years who had as much impact as a batsman than Gilly. Just because he played in a great team we cannot undermine his efforts. Sir Viv also played in a great team...No one says that he got some easy runs to score because of their batting and great bowling.
 
giri26 said:
That is not true..Gilly was a great bat. He has played some brilliant innings for Australia when their star studded batting failed sometimes. His innings in Mumbai when Australia was 99/5 was an amazing one on a turning wicket..There was another innings he played against SA in SA, I don't remember the game when Australia were 6 or 7 down under 175, he took the score over 350 with the help of the tail and Aus won the game...He has played many more innings like that in his career. I don't think there is any batsman in the last 20 years who had as much impact as a batsman than Gilly. Just because he played in a great team we cannot undermine his efforts. Sir Viv also played in a great team...No one says that he got some easy runs to score because of their batting and great bowling.
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There is a difference b/w Viv and Gilly is that runs were expected of Viv, as he played in top order. I am not denying the good innings Gilly played, but to say that nobody else had as much impact as he had in last 20 years, is taking it too far.

The Mumbai innings was followed by a lot of 1s and 0s in the rest of the series, but no one points it out.. coz he wasn't the main batsman. If his good scores are highlighted, it should also be mentioned that he was also the reason why Australian batting failed in 2001..
 
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tempus123 said:
I wouldn't.. but the limit of ignoring the average doesn't quite work with Aravinda with below 30 average in 3 countries and below 40 in almost all countries.
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He was the only clutch player we had left lol. He was the lone fighter, always, he was useful when needed the most. His strokes were wonderful to watch, thats why people still consider him to the best SL cricketer ever. SL now and SL before were different, 12 schools played competitive cricket(were all within range of 30 minutes drive), those 12 schools produced all the international cricketers till Jayasuriya and Murali came along. This is what was SL cricket, still some what like that except now more schools are playing, probably in 100's. At that time, possibly several hundred players played club, first-class, School cricket all combined. Out of those pools that what we were able to extract. And SL played damn well. Even now, North, and Eastern part of SL has no cricketing nets, no club structures or even schools playing REGULAR cricket. Basically it was just city of Colombo that played cricket. Now not much the same.
 
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thivaakar said:
He was the only clutch player we had left lol. He was the lone fighter, always, he was useful when needed the most. His strokes were wonderful to watch, thats why people still consider him to the best SL cricketer ever. SL now and SL before were different, 12 schools played competitive cricket(were all within range of 30 minutes drive), those 12 schools produced all the international cricketers till Jayasuriya and Murali came along. This is what was SL cricket, still some what like that except now more schools are playing, probably in 100's. At that time, possibly several hundred players played club, first-class, School cricket all combined. Out of those pools that what we were able to extract. And SL played damn well. Even now, North, and Eastern part of SL has no cricketing nets, no club structures or even schools playing REGULAR cricket. Basically it was just city of Colombo that played cricket. Now not much the same.
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I have watched Aravinda, and I am a fan of his batting, specially his 1996 SF innings..

But all of what you wrote above, only proves he was an SL great.. we are talking about international level here and he needed to do more.
 
Aravinda was indeed an awesome player. I loved his cover drives. Short and stocky, but he was quick between the wickets. His square cuts were a treat to watch, and he was equally good on the back foot as he was on the front. His drawback was that he lost concentration every once in a while and was not lucky enough to ride that phase out without getting out. Many others have had a catch dropped, or ball landing between the fielders ... some sort of luck going their way, but not Aravinda. That reflected on his average. I hear you, Thivaakar. Oh nostalgia ...
 
Allan Border should be in that list.

EDIT: Nevermind, he averaged just over 50. I would've thought it would be a lot less given who he was playing.

Greenidge and Haynes are another couple who averaged in the 40s but had they been playing today would probably average in the 50s.
 
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tempus123 said:
There is a difference b/w Viv and Gilly is that runs were expected of Viv, as he played in top order. I am not denying the good innings Gilly played, but to say that nobody else had as much impact as he had in last 20 years, is taking it too far.

The Mumbai innings was followed by a lot of 1s and 0s in the rest of the series, but no one points it out.. coz he wasn't the main batsman. If his good scores are highlighted, it should also be mentioned that he was also the reason why Australian batting failed in 2001..
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Failed? We flogged you in the first Test and were flogging you in the second until one of the greatest innings of all time.

Given you would have seen how well we play spin, you say our batting failed in 2001? What did it do in 2013, epic fail?
 
zubair007 said:
Aravinda was indeed an awesome player. I loved his cover drives. Short and stocky, but he was quick between the wickets. His square cuts were a treat to watch, and he was equally good on the back foot as he was on the front. His drawback was that he lost concentration every once in a while and was not lucky enough to ride that phase out without getting out. Many others have had a catch dropped, or ball landing between the fielders ... some sort of luck going their way, but not Aravinda. That reflected on his average. I hear you, Thivaakar. Oh nostalgia ...
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I agree completely. Aravinda was a fantastic batsman and absolutely brilliant to watch. Its unfortunate how underrated he is by people these days who didn't watch him play just because he averages below 50. I'd take him over many 50+ averaging batsman that I've seen in my life. Really quality stroke maker and one of the few Asian batsman who thrived on pace and bounce.
 
Random Aussie said:
Failed? We flogged you in the first Test and were flogging you in the second until one of the greatest innings of all time.

Given you would have seen how well we play spin, you say our batting failed in 2001? What did it do in 2013, epic fail?
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Except Hayden and to an extent Waugh Sr, the batting failed in 2001. Well, the innings in Mumbai which is being talked about here, came when Aus were 99/5.. if that's not a failure, what is?

To put the context right, Ponting and Gilchrist failed miserably as the series progressed and Gilly must take blame for that. The discussion wasn't about how Australian batting fared in 2001, but more on Gilly's contribution.
 
Robert said:
Colin Cowdrey

Viswanath

Clive Lloyd
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Very impressive choice.

Where do you place Ted Dexter and Peter May?Ahead of Cowdrey?.Really appreciated choice of Vishwanath who was the equivalent of an Indian Rohan Kanhia.In terms of talent he even superseded Sachin Tendulkar.Infact on bad wickets he often surpassed Gavaskar and made a greater contribution in games won.On his day Cowdrey had talent like Viv Richards,against great pace bowling.However he did not relish slow tracks.Significan ly he was successful on both of his tors to the Caribbean scoring 4 centuries and averaging around 60.Clive Lloyd was ever consistent.

What do you feel about Zaheer Abbas,Virendra Sehwag,Mark Waugh ,Inzamam Ul Haq or Aravinda de'SIlva ?Were they true greats?
 
Your best batsmen ever who averaged under 50 in Test cricket?

1.Victor Trumper
2.Rohan Kanhai
3.Graham Gooch
4.Inzamam Ul Haq
5.Peter May

Selected Trumper for his mastery on wet wickets and incredible scoring rate..Kanhai batted as well as any batsmen who averaged over 50 often even overshadowing Gary Sobers .No batsmen posessed more prowess or was arguably more consummate..Gooch in my book was the best opening batsmen ever against genuine pace of the Carribaen quartet .He also demolished Indian spin bowling in 1982 and 1990 away and at home.Inzamam was amongst the 3 best match-winning batsmen of all and accomplished batsmen against genuine pace..Peter May was the ultimate epitome of consistency and class.

Just missed out by the slenderest margins were Neil Harvey,Ted Dexter,Colin Cowdrey,Frank Worrell and Clive Lloyd.
 
Easy picking - first 4 I do agree in slightly changed order. Inzi should be higher, but not sure where to put him - probably at 3rd over GGooch.

For the last spot, it's really tough - I'll go for Hervery over Grineedge by a whisker. Hanif, May, Dexter, Ian, Lloyd, KP, Mark and Worrell there after. Few ancient AUS batsman should be mentioned as well - Stan McCabe, Clem Hill, Ponsford, Woodful & Bardsley.
 
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What about Vijay Merchant averaging 47 in tests when India were starting out as minnows.
Grace and Trumper are rating highly without any footage I'm not sure they are as good look at images of Grace playing looks unfit out of shape and did will in test cricket well into his 40s which isn't something repeated in later eras.
 
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Harsh Thakor said:
1.Victor Trumper
2.Rohan Kanhai
3.Graham Gooch
4.Inzamam Ul Haq
5.Peter May

Selected Trumper for his mastery on wet wickets and incredible scoring rate..Kanhai batted as well as any batsmen who averaged over 50 often even overshadowing Gary Sobers .No batsmen posessed more prowess or was arguably more consummate..Gooch in my book was the best opening batsmen ever against genuine pace of the Carribaen quartet .He also demolished Indian spin bowling in 1982 and 1990 away and at home.Inzamam was amongst the 3 best match-winning batsmen of all and accomplished batsmen against genuine pace..Peter May was the ultimate epitome of consistency and class.

Just missed out by the slenderest margins were Neil Harvey,Ted Dexter,Colin Cowdrey,Frank Worrell and Clive Lloyd.
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Why don't you explain why Inzi suddenly got into the top 5 from being absent from of your earlier list that you made in 2014 without playing a single ball in that period ?
 
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