This is a fun topic as the averages of players does not get talked about a lot or as much as it should be , especially in test cricket where the average of a batter is the most important and the strike rate is not relevant in test cricket. The batters that have played test cricket over the 140+ year history of the game realize that averages are very important in yes cricket and to maintain a good average is even more difficult as the players play in different countries, conditions, somewhere it will favor the fast bowlers more and somewhere it will assist the spinners.
To make it a fair assessment we will only consider those players who have played 50 or more test matches because to maintain a high average for 50 Test Matches is harder as compared to someone who has played 10 or 20 test matches in their careers. 50 Test Matches is a good sample size and it tells us about the quality of the batter as well. So ,with all being said let’s see who has the Top 5 best average in test cricket history.
Sir Don Bradman
Who else could have been number 1 on this list but the greatest of them all is Don Bradman, the master of test match batting and he has been the standard of batters who have come after every generation after his. He played 52 Test Matches In his career which fits our criteria and his average is something which will never be topped. It is at a mind boggling 99.94 and he could have had an average of 100 had he got just 4 runs in his final test innings but he got out for 0. Still , he will always be the greatest of them all. Don Bradman had 29 Test hundreds In just 52 Test Matches.
Also Read | Highest Individual scores in ODI History
Herbert Sutcliffe
The next batter on our list is the legendary England batter Herbert Sutcliffe who has played 54 Test Matches in his career. He is the highest averaging England player in this list at a whopping 60.73 and he has scored 4555 runs with 16 test hundreds and he used to score lots of runs against Australia and he is one of the greatest England has ever seen in test cricket.
Steve Smith
The third batter on our list would have been 2nd had we done this a few months ago because Steve Smith is called the Modern day Bradman and just recently his test average has fallen below 60 and now it is at 59.78 in a whopping 85 Test matches till now and he will play a lot more test matches so his average will likely go above 60 again. He has scored 8010 runs till now with 27 Test hundreds. The best is yet to come for Steve Smith.
Ken Barrington
The fourth batter on this list is another English batter and it is the great Ken Barrington and he was someone who scored lots of runs for England and played 82 Test Matches in his career with a great average of 59.23 in his legendary career. He has also scored 20 Test hundreds and a total of 6806 test runs for England. He has been an inspiration for a lot of young players that have come through the ranks in English cricket.
Wally Hammond
The last batter that is on our list is probably the earliest great of English batting and that is Wally Hammond and he played in the same era as Don Bradman so he was not celebrated as much as he is after his Denise. He played 85 Test Matches for England in 20 years and he averaged 58.46 in his test career. He also scored 22 Test hundreds for England and a total of 7249 test runs which was the highest for England for a long time.
