The 10 Greatest Run Machines of All Time

Ken Barrington is the forgotten hero of English cricket. After being dropped, he abandoned his natural attacking style to become one of cricket's most notorious stonewallers.

More than once, Barrington himself had had to change his approach both in style and mind, and so he was ideally suited to the task of developing younger talent and skills.

He was the backbone of the English side of the '60s, and the adhesive that held that fragile batting lineup together. It is a recognition of his talent that he has the sixth highest batting average of all time.

Nobody has ever revolutionized the way the game is played like the Father of Cricket.

WG Grace was the first batsman to incorporate both forward and back play into his repertoire of strokes, favouring only that which was appropriate to the ball being delivered at the moment.

His numbers tell their own story—more than 54,000 first-class runs at an average of 40, which was exceptional because the pitches he played on would be considered unfit for an inter-school match today. His bowling was also more than useful, but that is another story.

Sir Len Hutton was one of the greatest batsmen the game has produced in all its long history.

He dominated the national and international cricket scene for the decade after the Second World War and was honoured with the England team captaincy, breaking an age-old tradition that the position could be held only by an amateur.

But he was more than that. His powers of concentration were remarkable, but when he wanted to be he was one of the best strokemakers in the game.

Not many can have an average of over 56 while captaining their national sides.

Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, and certainly the most successful.

His game was built around a near-perfect technique and enormous powers of concentration. It is hard to visualise a more beautiful defence: Virtually unbreachable, it made his wicket among the hardest to earn.

His figures in test matches are also impossible to ignore—more than 10,000 runs at an average of over 50, 35 hundreds...the list goes on.

Ponsford was noted for his ability to maintain intense levels of concentration for extended periods, which was probably his greatest attribute. His great footwork made him probably the greatest player of spin bowling—ever.

He was once described as the founder of total batting, the first to make a habit of regarding 100 as merely the opening battle in a campaign for a larger triumph.

His statistics tell a story—nearly 14,000 first-class runs at the incredible average of 65.

Off the field, he was shy and spoke little. Few, however, have been more eloquent with the bat than this great Victorian.

Herbert Sutcliffe was one of the great cricketers and brought to cricket, as to all his undertakings, an assurance and capacity for concentration that positively commanded success.

His technical talent matched his character and his achievements were therefore on the highest plane. Only three men can boast of a Test average higher than his.

Unsurprisingly, he is regarded as one of the greatest openers ever. His effective footwork could nullify the best of bowling on a treacherous wicket.

In a career extending from 1919 to 1939, he scored more than 50,000 runs and averaged 52. He never knew a season of failure.

George Alphonso Headley is universally acknowledged as one of the finest batsmen of all time. He was compact, balanced, and light on his feet, and he appeared to have far more time to play the ball than less gifted men.

He was highly skilled in picking the gaps in the field, leaving captains floundering to set a field to contain him as he accumulated runs at a great rate without risk.

He boasts of a first-class average of nearly 70, while his test average is the third highest of all time.

His scoring feats led to his being dubbed "The Black Bradman." His devoted admirers responded by calling Donald Bradman "The White Headley"—a pardonable exaggeration.

Hanif Mohammad was the first star of Pakistani cricket, the "Little Master" who played the longest innings in Test history—his 970-minute 337 against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58—and then followed it a year later with the highest first-class innings to that point—499 run out.

Despite being famous for his impenetrable defence, he was the inventor of the reverse sweep. He finished his first-class career with over 17,000 runs, and that too at an average of well over 50.

So versatile was he that he could keep wicket as well as bowl either left- or right-handed. He was the jack of all trades, but he was also the master of one.

Brian Charles Lara is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Nothing less.

Nobody since Bradman has built massive scores as often and as fast as Lara in his prime. Even his stance was thrilling—the bat raised high in the air, the weight poised on a bent front knee, the eyes low and level.

Then the guillotine would fall, sending the ball flashing to the boundary.

He is considered one of the most elegant batsmen to ever play the game. His statistics are remarkable. He garnered nearly 12,000 runs in test cricket, and more than 10,000 runs in ODIs. He is the only batsman to have ever scored a hundred, a double-century, a triple-century, a quadruple-century, and a quintuple-century in first-class games over the course of a career.

His is the career of a genius.

An unoriginal, yet inevitable choice for numero uno.

Sir Donald Bradman of Australia was, beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century.

He dominated world cricket during a 20-year career, combining an unorthodox technique with great levels of concentration.

He consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, "worth three batsmen to Australia."

As a captain, he was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers.

His career test batting average of 99.94 has been claimed to be statistically the greatest achievement in any major sport. His fame will never fade.