Greatest Ever:Cricket:Top 10 Batsmen Of All-Time

This is the second installment of my "Greatest Ever" series.

The first one was about top 10 wrestlers. Of course, I got a good amount of criticisms which were constructive.

Cricket is a very popular sporting event with millions of fans across the globe.

As it is a game, it'll have all-time favorites and greatest players.

Today, the list I prepared after crossing various hurdles is the Top-Ten Batsmen of all time.

I know this is a debatable topic, but according to my experience in cricket (watching, not playing), this list will be the one I'll be opting for.

As always, comments are welcome. Here we go...

10. Wally Hammond

This English batsman has an exclusive batting average in test cricket and he is one of the notable test batsmen of all time.

He could hold the record for highest individual test innings with his outstanding 336 not out which was broken by Len Hutton after five years. He has 22 test centuries. His class would be easily observable if anyone has a look at his first class batting career.

He scored over 50,000 runs with 167 centuries in first-class cricket. He could make 22 centuries in test cricket. He also captained England. He played for Gloucestershire in his first class career.

9. Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar was one of the best Indian batsmen of all time.

Gavaskar was possessed of a classical technique. He had a mind to match, with astonishing powers of concentration. To the purist, it was equally a pleasure to see him leave six outswingers in a row as to observe his cover drive.

He was the highest test centurion till 2005 with his 34 test centuries. He has over 10,000 runs in test cricket at an average of 51.12.

He has over 3,000 runs in one-day cricket with an average of 35.13. In 1980, he became the Wisden cricketer of the year. For his excellent run scoring ability he was called “Run Machine.”

8. Ricky Ponting

One of the all-time best captains in the world.He was and remains the archetypal modern cricketer: he plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat and knows only to attack. And his breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself.

He is another known for his captain’s knocks. Apart from being a stylish batsman, he holds an average of 58, scoring over 10,000 runs.

7. Sir Jack Hobbs

Sir Jack Hobbs is Renowned as a very modest and self-effacing man, he was popularly referred to as "The Master".

As a batsman, he scored more runs and more centuries in first-class cricket than any other player in the history of the game. He was the only English cricketer and the only opening batsman to be selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the [20th] Century.

He had played 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930, with a career batting average in first-class cricket of 50.70.

His record in the First class cricket remains unbreakable as he scored over 60,000 runs. He also took 108 wickets.

6.Allan Border

Allan Border was the former captain of Australia and is the first batsman in the test cricket to score 11000. He is one of the best batsmen in test cricket history. He scored 11174 runs with an average of 50.56.

His performance against West Indies, the then leading cricket power of the world, was exclusive one. Though he got many successes throughout his career as a batsman, Australia could set their dominant position during his captaincy.

He is regarded as one of the best captains ever for Australia. He led Australia in 93 matches and Australia won their first world cup championship in 1987 under his captaincy.

He is also successful in one-day cricket with his bat. He scored over 6000 runs at an average of 30.62 with three centuries.

The award for Australian player of the year has been named after Allan Border. He is now a member of Australian cricket hall of Fame.

5.Sir Vivian Richards

Considered to be one of the finest batsmen of all time, he was also a part time off break bowler. One of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, he was nominated Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1977.

Playing 121 tests, he scored 8,540 runs at an average of 50.23, with 24 hundreds and 291 as his highest score. He claimed 32 wickets and took 122 catches.

In 187 ODIs, he scored 6,721 runs at an average of 47.00, with 11 hundreds and 189 n.o. as his highest score. He also claimed 118 wickets and took 100 catches.

4.Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers

Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers was one of the benevolent figures of the Golden Age of West Indian cricket. It is said that he was the most influential cricketer of his time.

This legendary cricketer is regarded as the best all-rounder of all time. Sobers scored over 8000 with an average of 57.78. His career run total in test cricket was the record for that time.

He scored 26 centuries in his career. With such a record in batting, he also served his team, taking 235 wickets in his career.

In 2000 he was named as one of the five “Wisden Crickets of the Century”. In 1975 he was awarded the knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II.

3.Brian Lara

Brian Charles Lara is considered to be one of greatest name in the history of cricket.

This benevolent Caribbean cricketer holds the record of highest career run scorer in the test cricket with over 11,000 runs. His batting average of 52 in test cricket is also a loyal one.

He is best known for his record breaking long innings both in international and first-class cricket.

He is the highest individual run scorer in test cricket with his outstanding knock of unbeaten 400 against England. He was also the holder of this record before Mathew Hayden broke it.

Then in 2004, he again grabbed his lost crown in the way of is smashing 400 runs.

He became the first batsman to break the 400 margin in test cricket. This talented batsman, nicknamed “the prince,” also holds the record of highest individual score in first-class cricket with his 501 not out against Durham. His one day international record is also very attractive.

He scored over 10,000 runs with an average of 40.48 in one day international cricket. He has 34 test centuries and 19 one-day centuries in his career

2.Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer, widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

He currently holds the records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket.

Tendulkar made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player.

His all-time achievements are:

* Most runs (over 16,684) and centuries (43) in one-day internationals

* Only person to have scored over 11,000 ODI runs and over 25 ODI centuries as of April 28, 2005

* Highest ODI batting average among Indian batsmen and among all batsmen who have scored over 7,500 ODI runs (as of April 3, 2005)

* Most number of Man of the Matches in one-day internationals

* Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs in ODIs as of April 2005

* Most number of Runs in World Cup Cricket History
* First cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark in ODIs
* Broke Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 test centuries
* Among those who have played over 100 test matches, he is the only one with a batting average above 55.
* Only second Indian to cross 10,000 runs in Test matches.
* He has the most centuries in ODI cricket against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
* He is the fastest to score 10,000 runs in test cricket history. He holds this record along with Brian Lara. Both of them achieved this feat in 195 innings.
* To go with this he has 41 hundreds in Test cricket at an average of 55. An average above 50 distinguishes a batsman as an all time great.
* Highest individual score in ODIs among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999)

1. Sir Don Bradman

Sir Don Bradman is a name which represents the passion and art of cricket.

This Australian legendary master cricketer is undoubtedly the best in the history of cricket. He could take cricket to such a height where Bradman is set as a king ruling others in the cricket world. He symbolizes a model of a batsman in the cricketing point of view.

It is worthless to add an adjective before his name, as every attempt will be in vain.

With an enormous average of 99.94 in test cricket he had scored 6,996. If he could score just four runs in his last international innings his total runs would be 7,000—and most importantly his average would be 100!

However, he was been dismissed without scoring a single run in those innings, which is one of the greatest and most-talked about issues in the world of cricket.

He has the then record of 29 centuries and he used to carry out those hundreds to a larger figure frequently. He could score a century in every three innings at an average. His is the first and one of only two batsmen to have two triple centuries.

Sir Don is one of the five Cricketers of the Century, according to Wisden.