No one knows the exact origins of cricket, but it is assumed that this game originated in Great Britain sometimes in the 16th century onwards with international test matches being first played in 1877.

The early cricket bats shown on pictures preserved for posterity or bats kept in the museums appear like the cruder version of the present-day hockey sticks.  The bowlers bowled underhand to batsmen and it was not a round arm action of the present day cricketers that is in vogue since many decades now.

Barry Richards           Sir Don Bradman           Vinod Kambli

Great Britain, the colonial masters, ruled at one time a land area of 33,700,000 square kilometres, i.e. the quarter of world’s territory and many British citizens went overseas in service of the Crown to rule their countries’ vast colonies as His or Her Majesty’s civil servants or service personnel or businessmen or missionaries and quite a number of them had their families living with them.  In those days, cricket was one amongst the various sports, pastimes and other social diversions for the Englishmen, an imprint the British left behind in the colonies that they once ruled and left after granting them independence.  As a vast landmass, the Indian subcontinent has the highest density of population if one takes into account India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.  Cricket has not only survived, but thrived, prospered and it is very much of a craze and mania and in India, like soccer in Brazil, a sporting activity that can bring the country to a virtual grinding halt in the event of the World Cup final, be it 50 over or 20 over event.

India played its first test series in 1932, then again in 1933-34 and the teams were captained by C.K. Nayudu and the third series was played in 1936 with the team captained by Maharajkumar of Vizianagram and in 1946 with the team captained by Nawab of Pataudi, Sr.  In India, for many years, the test matches were held at slower frequency and, moreover, there were no shorter version of cricket and cricketers played cricket for their intense love of the game and the privilege of wearing the country’s cap to represent the country.  All across the test playing countries, batsmen played genuine fast and fast medium bowling on under prepared tracks that were unpredictable and hostile, without any protection worth the name (compared to first class protection they have today, including helmets) and the money paid to cricketers were peanuts, there were no sponsorships and the facilities accorded to them those days were incomparable and a fraction of what cricketers enjoy today, especially in India where they just play cricket and earn in millions and are an elite breed by themselves.  They do not have to depend upon businesses or employments for survival and sustenance, but for further prospering and further increasing their colossal wealth.

However, even in those days before 1980, there were brilliant cricketers, be it batsmen, bowlers and wicket-keepers, though fielding, even at top levels, was not comparable to what it is today.  For example, the test batsmen may not have scored that many test runs and centuries, simply because cricket itinerary was widely spaced and they had fewer opportunities to play the series.  However, the test averages of the leading batsmen is noteworthy and highly commendable, considering that they faced fast bowlers on under prepared, fast pitches with unpredictable bounce that could injure batsmen, if their eye and ball coordination was not quick enough.  They too had very good and top quality spinners those days, who could spin the ball by varying degrees or bowl tight and economical spells.

As the author of this article, I consider the batsmen with the highest test averages as greats and legends, simply because their high averages reveal that they were consistent scorers and hard hitting batsmen who dominated all sorts of bowling, be it fast, fast medium, medium fast, medium pace or spin.  It is very difficult for defensive batsmen who played cricket as per the test book manual and did not take any risks, to have high test averages.

As per the averages, one can see from the list that unquestionably the greatest batsman without any shadow of doubt is Sir Don Bradman (average: 99.94) which is the best average by any test playing countries’ batsmen, followed by many other greats.  I have been compelled to write this article, because many cricket enthusiasts who may not be aware of this sport’s history and the present and past legends, jump to mention that so and so is a great batsman, because he has scored “X” number of centuries, “Y” number of fifties and compiled “Z” number of runs.  But what about his averages, which happens to be the true acid test?

Again, though Sir Garfield Sobers was not a specialist batsman, but the greatest all-rounder cricket has ever seen, however at one time he held the record for a maximum test runs scored by a batsman, which was later bettered and overtaken (purely bin terms of runs and not averages) by Geoff Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar).  However, with a test batting average of 57.78 and bowling average of 34.03, he can be considered to be an all-rounder who was good with both bat and ball and a vital asset to have in any team, at any time in any version of the game.  Considering that Sir Sobers was regarded as a great all-rounder and not a specialist batsman, however, his test batting average of 57.78, is much greater batsman than many who are considered to be accomplished batsmen and greats or legends of the game, but have lesser averages.

Further, he can be considered the most complete cricketer, because he batted at any position, bowled fast medium and, on occasions, opened the batting, bowled spin and fielded very well.  In short, he was like three to four cricketers having different talents and skills, rolled into one.

After Sir Sobers, I could Jacques Kallis (batting ave. 57.02 and bowling ave. 32.51) as the next greatest all-rounder in terms of utility.  This man is as cool as a cucumber and with his multi-skills is an asset to any side he plays for, be it South Africa or in IPL matches held in India.  In fact, being an accomplished all-rounder he is much useful, than a cricketer who can just bat.

Now, wait a minute!  Some aficionados consider Sachin Tendulkar as the world’s great batsmen for reasons like maximum runs, centuries and fifties scored and other records he has set, but what about his test average (55.44) as a specialist batsman and that of Kallis (57.02) as an all-rounder?  So, who is better, consistent and dependable?  Tendulkar is a bits and pieces bowler (ave. 54.33).

South African batsman, Barry Richards, played just four tests matches and scored two centuries and two fifties and had a phenomenal average of 72.57.  It is not Barry Richards’  fault that he played just four tests, because South Africa was banned from playing international cricket, because of their racist White Government’s Apartheid policies.  However, this man was a domineering batsman in the English County Cricket and one of the leading run getting machines of all times in English County cricket history.

Readers have to realise that there were many batsmen much superior to Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and others they consider greats.  Look at the averages that are available in the statistical data and remember that many of these batsmen faced fast bowling on under prepared pitches with uneven bounce, without much protection to the body that is available today, including helmets.  Further, they had to depend on their own businesses or other occupations for survival and sustenance and cricket was just a pastime and sport for them, which did not bring money.  What were paid to cricketers those days, was just peanuts.  From the sheet that gives details of over a score of batsmen, one can realise the names of cricketing greats who have left their mark on the game.  Some of the readers may not have heard the names of many of the illustrious batsmen of the yore.  So better get to know their names and be aware of their exploits and not just the few contemporaries that they hear today.

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