Rohde's List of the Greatest Ever Cricket Batsmen
In 2011, a list of the top Test batsmen who ever lived was compiled by Griffith University's Dr Nicholas Rohde. The ranking system was first published in the December 2011 edition of "Economic Papers", with data only up until 2010 considered. In this article he listed the 40 highest performing batsmen with Sir Donald Bradman first and Tendulkar closely behind. Rohde's ratings are based on economic theory to compare batsmen from different eras.
The rankings were created according to a player’s career aggregate runs, minus the total number of runs that an average player of that era would accumulate over the same number of innings. In the abstract to this article, Rohde gives this explanation of the method used: "By applying the concepts of opportunity cost and supernormal profit to batting performance we are able to produce a cardinal ranking system that uses non-arbitrary weightings to rank players." Clear?
Also in December 2011, Rohde recalculated the rankings based on current test scores, and on top of his list this time was the Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, above Don Bradman. At the time of his rankings being published, Tendulkar was nearing the end of his career with a world-record 15,183 runs from 184 Tests at an average of 56.02. Bradman, on the other hand, played 52 Tests from 1928 to 1948, scoring 6996 runs at an average of 99.94.
Rohde also rated women cricketers, and on top was England’s Rachael Heyhoe-Flint above Australia’s Betty Wilson.
10 Top Test Batsmen Who Ever Lived (as of Dec 17, 2011)
| Rank | Batsman | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar | India |
| 2 | Donald Bradman | Australia |
| 3 | Jacques Kallis | South Africa |
| 4 | Rahul Dravid | India |
| 5 | Brian Lara | West Indies |
| 6 | Garfield Sobers | West Indies |
| 7 | Allan Border | Australia |
| 8 | Sunil Gavaskar | India |
| 9 | Steve Waugh | Australia |
| 10 | Javed Miandad | Pakistan |
Reference
- Nicholas Rohde, An "Economic" Ranking of Batters in Test Cricket. Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics and policy. Vol 30, Issue 4, pages 455–465, December 2011
Related Pages
- More about the greatest cricketer ever
- Profiles of the legends of cricket
- More about the sport of cricket
- All time greatest index of sports
- Other sport specific lists
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Old Comments
Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.
- No doubt Tendulker is a nice player,but i think Brian Lara is a master of cricket..Spirit,and revenge..he got back his old record of 375 by mathew hyden just less then a year with outstanding 400..i think the great achievement in cricket history..man of record is Tendulker..king of swing..Wasim Akraw and Warne..Sir viv Rechard man of mind..And all time Best Dracula One and only Chris Gayle.. Samar Aman (2015)
- I don think Sachin deserves a place in Top-10. He just plays for records. He dont make the team win. Such a selfish player. Sgeems (2013)
- r u mad or what.........even he plays for himself he contributes to the team.....he was the highest run scorer for india in 2011 world cup n second after dilshan......coz of him india was in the finals. Sheikh Abdul Habib Sajid sgeems (2013)
- Can't believe there's any doubt, The Don is by far the best ever then there's daylight then the rest. Sir Garfield sobers should be in that list, he is the greatest all rounder ever, period! (from Matt, Mar 2013)
- Bradman should b no 1 Cs no 1 cn reach his disgusting avaregae of 99.99 it means he ws imposible 2 b dismised. He ws therminator of batting. (from sipho, Jan 2013)
- Nobody can match the little master sachin tendulkar, he has more centuries than all and reached many milestones than most and ricky ponting s also the best (from Tebogo, Jan 2013)
- It is a perfect analysis as one could present apart from the inclusion of Ricky Ponting who deserved a place instead of Steve Waugh, though Waugh was a legend never the less ... (from Rishabh, Jan 2013)
- I think sachin & B.lara are the greatest players of the world (from Jagmeet singh, Jan 2013)
- Biased commentary here people - how anyone can be mentioned in the same breath as The Don is unbelievable! With a test average the best part of 40 more than the next best, made on uncovered wickets over 20 years at the top will never be surpassed. As good as Tendulkar has been, a case can be mounted that he isn't even the greatest of his time (Lara, Kailis, Ponting). The Don is ans always will be the greatest. (from Gareth, Jan 2013)
- Well We All See Statistics.. but I think Kapil Dev is the Greatest because he can win matches singlehandedly ... And Has won a World Cup (from Sam, Dec 2012)
- I think dravid (from rasgesh, Dec 2012)
- I am a papua new guinean speaking from a international point of view apart from biased comments from fans from countries like india, west indis, south africa australia,etc ... i think in the modern era the greatest cricket player is most obviously jacques kallis. (from trev@png, Dec 2012)
- Where is W.G.Grace? (from Stumps99, Nov 2012)
- Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly the greatest batsmen to have ever played cricket in the modern era, let it be any bowler no difficulty in playing him,a great batsmen ... moreover a great human being ... he is not angry when he is out for a duck or at 199 ... but in my opinion Ricky Thomas Ponting should also have been there. (from Kishore, Oct 2012)
- I think Mr.Lara is the greatest ever. He is the master of any kind of pitch and IT does not matter fast baller or spin baller. Murali can not out him easily with his deliveries. He bats to spin like a dancer of 'kandy perahara'and uses his feat wel and prevent the spin with using front foot. and he is the honest player in cricket history.He is a really gentleman too. (from Dharmadasa. Srilankan, Sept 2012)
- I think comparing cricketers from different eras is a impossible task ... basically even averages can be compiled by meaningless innings ... its basically a combination of stats..utility n more then that the joy n thrilling feeling n charisma any sportsmen provides which puts him in a certain bracket for ex people will say Raoul dravid has played more knocks which have saved us games then Sachin in difficult situations may be true but the thrill Sachin provides makes the viewer watch him. same is our great all rounders kapil,imran hadlee n botham the thrill they provided was far more then a kallis can ever in spite of being much superior bat but he looks boring to watch ... its like saying naseer is better actor then amitabh..lol butin popularity poll it will sound like a joke,so the Richards the tendulkars,laras ... the four great all rounders i mentioned ... akram,lillie,shane warne,malcolm marshall,waquar ... andy roberts,garner holding ... jaysurya r ppl who combined records with flair n enjoyment they brought so these guys plus earlier eras Bradman,sobers n all top my list of all time greatest as n how u like them according to what one is looking for according to ones taste ... exactly like actors ... (from swaraajkapoor, Aug 2012)
- 3achin Tendulkar is undoubtedly the greatest batsman ever to have played the game. Sachin played on all sorts of pitches against those bowlers who among them are the top ten bowlers of all time. Sachin played all the great fast bowlers and spinners with equal ease and showed the rest of the world as to how to tackle them. He played 23 years of international cricket and is still going strong. Sachin played the maximum one dayers ever and a lot of IPL in between Test Cricket. He hardly got any rest in his entire life. He had to carry the hopes of more than a billion every time he went in to bat.Dont forget he was done in hard by the umpiring decisions many time in his career,but he never complained even once. Remember,a batsman needs only one ball to get out. The averages of a cricketer don't tell u the exact story. Sachin had to fight career threatening injuries,and to come out of all that trauma is not easy and any sportsman worth his salt will vouch for it. One thing all have to notice is that 3achin got all those runs amidst rejuvenated fielding standards and top class fielding sides. One can go on and on when it is about the one and only GOD OF CRICKET and a true role model on and off the field. (from kuladeep k. karasi, Aug 2012)
- Tandulkar is by far the greatest batsman of all time (from Paul Kaiulo, May 2012)
Upcoming Events