Tests - Best Australian Middle Order Batsmen

Top 10 Australian Middle Order Batsmen in Tests

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier batsmen may change if current batsmen set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 10 Australian middle order (3-6) batsmen in Test Cricket since 1950.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-09-10

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PRIMARY CRITERIA
3.1. PROLIFIC
3.2. CONSISTENT
3.2.1. Against All Teams
3.2.2. Against Top Teams
3.3. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL
3.4. ATTACKING
3.5. PRIMARY RATING
4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA
4.1. HOME/AWAY
4.1.1. At Home
4.1.2. Away From Home
4.2. FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS
4.2.1. Familiar Conditions Rating
4.2.1.1. Non Asians Outside Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. TOP FORM AT HOME
5.2. TOP FORM AWAY
5.3. IMPACT INNS
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
Nations Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from Australia.

  • The Rating of the players from Australia remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from Australia.
Position Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to include performances of middle order (3-6) batsmen. Innings played only at the specified position are counted in this rating.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Runs, Average, Top Inns, Strike Rate
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form (Home & Away), Min Impact Inns
The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

  • TS Runs: 2,000; Player X Runs: 1,000; Section Points: 250.00
  • TS Points: 250.00(Max); Player X Points: Runs/TS Runs X 250 = 1,000/2,000 X 250 = 125.00
  • Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
Top Teams (TT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams. Here is some information about the Top Teams:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
  • The top teams are calculated by decades.
  • Further, they are divided into In Asia and Outside Asia.
  • A batsman's performace is counted in TT if it comes in the specific condition and in the specific decade.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 50
Min Career Runs 1000

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 4 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 200.00
Consistent Average 500.00
Big Innings Potential Top Inns (Runs) 150.00
Attacking Strike Rate 150.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period from 1950 to present is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS AR Border AUS 1978 1994 1986 257 10964 170.00
1 AR Border AUS 1978 1994 1986 257 10964 170.00
2 GS Chappell AUS 1971 1984 1977.5 148 6930 107.45
3 KD Walters AUS 1965 1981 1973 123 5316 82.43
4 IM Chappell AUS 1964 1980 1972 129 5304 82.24
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 324 15789 200.00
1 RT Ponting AUS 1995 2012 2003.5 275 13168 166.80
2 SR Waugh AUS 1985 2004 1994.5 236 10367 131.32
3 MJ Clarke AUS 2004 2015 2009.5 195 8558 108.40
4 ME Waugh AUS 1991 2002 1996.5 206 8017 101.55
5 MEK Hussey AUS 2005 2013 2009 126 5751 72.85
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2025 2018.5 276 13126 180.00
1 SPD Smith AUS 2010 2025 2017.5 197 10085 138.30

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly, it takes into account:-

  • Strength of Opposition.
  • Positions at which a batsman has played.
  • Venues at which he has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2000

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 135 16 7048 59.23 61.04 250.00
1 SPD Smith 197 22 10085 57.63 60.08 246.08
2 GS Chappell 148 19 6930 53.72 55.98 229.29
3 SR Waugh 236 41 10367 53.16 54.17 221.89
4 AR Border 257 41 10964 50.76 52.32 214.29
5 KD Walters 123 13 5316 48.33 51.96 212.84
6 RT Ponting 275 26 13168 52.88 50.81 208.13
7 MEK Hussey 126 14 5751 51.35 49.63 203.28
8 MJ Clarke 195 21 8558 49.18 47.51 194.62
9 IM Chappell 129 10 5304 44.57 46.74 191.45
10 ME Waugh 206 17 8017 42.42 42.82 175.39

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 119 14 6492 61.83 64.21 250.00
1 SPD Smith 160 13 7989 54.35 57.55 224.07
2 GS Chappell 118 16 5250 51.47 54.37 211.72
3 SR Waugh 190 30 7854 49.09 51.31 199.79
4 AR Border 212 34 8674 48.73 51.22 199.42
5 KD Walters 95 8 3879 44.59 49.23 191.71
6 MJ Clarke 149 13 6786 49.90 49.06 191.02
7 RT Ponting 199 15 9098 49.45 48.71 189.66
8 MEK Hussey 90 6 4019 47.85 46.82 182.32
9 IM Chappell 108 10 4256 43.43 46.39 180.62
10 ME Waugh 164 15 6628 44.48 45.95 178.93

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 scores of the batsman in the specific condition. Average High Score (Ave HS) is simply the total runs in the 7 innings divided by 7.

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored In The Top 7 Inns

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS BC Lara 400* 375 277 226 221 216 213 275.43 150.00
1 MJ Clarke 329* 259* 230 210 187 168 166 221.29 120.51
2 RT Ponting 257 242 221 209 207 206 197 219.86 119.74
3 SPD Smith 239 215 211 200* 199 192 178* 204.86 111.57
4 GS Chappell 247* 235 204 201 182* 182 176 203.86 111.02
5 AR Border 205 200* 196 163 162 153 152* 175.86 95.77
6 SR Waugh 200 199 177* 170 164 160 157* 175.29 95.46
7 IM Chappell 196 192 165 156 151 145 138 163.29 88.93
8 KD Walters 250 242 155 118 115 112 112 157.71 85.89
9 MEK Hussey 195 182 150* 146 145* 142 134* 156.29 85.11
10 ME Waugh 153* 140 139* 138 137 126 121 136.29 74.22

ATTACKING

R SR

Relative Strike Rate (R SR) is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with SR. Batsman who were active in earlier times benefit from this as SR was generally low earlier.

R4BF

Balls played by batsmen for many inns is not available for earlier times. When such is the case, we have used Runs For Balls Faced (R4BF) to determine the Strike Rate. This is the runs scored by the batsman for the available data of balls.

Criteria: Points For R SR

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2000
Min Average 25
RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS IVA Richards 6609 9580 68.99 75.59 150.00
1 GS Chappell 6560 12653 51.85 60.05 119.17
2 KD Walters 4500 9240 48.70 58.18 115.44
3 RT Ponting 13168 22404 58.78 57.47 114.04
4 ME Waugh 8017 15294 52.42 54.65 108.45
5 IM Chappell 4152 9229 44.99 54.45 108.05
6 MJ Clarke 8558 15278 56.02 53.78 106.72
7 SR Waugh 10367 21217 48.86 51.24 101.68
8 SPD Smith 10085 18847 53.51 50.74 100.70
9 MEK Hussey 5751 11433 50.30 48.24 95.72
10 AR Border 10886 26534 41.03 45.66 90.61

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40 percent.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 SPD Smith 138.30 470.15 111.57 100.70 820.71 328.28
2 RT Ponting 166.80 397.79 119.74 114.04 798.36 319.34
3 GS Chappell 107.45 441.01 111.02 119.17 778.65 311.46
4 AR Border 170.00 413.72 95.77 90.61 770.10 308.04
5 SR Waugh 131.32 421.68 95.46 101.68 750.14 300.06
6 MJ Clarke 108.40 385.64 120.51 106.72 721.27 288.51
7 KD Walters 82.43 404.55 85.89 115.44 688.31 275.32
8 IM Chappell 82.24 372.08 88.93 108.05 651.29 260.52
9 MEK Hussey 72.85 385.60 85.11 95.72 639.28 255.71
10 ME Waugh 101.55 354.32 74.22 108.45 638.55 255.42

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions

The Conditions Ratings are calculated by applying the four criteria of the Primary Rating to diffirent conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 30.00
Away 120.00
Familiar Conditions 30.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 120.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. is considered as a second Home for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  • All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani batsmen are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RT Ponting 146 7404 57.84 59.84 834.67 25.04
2 MJ Clarke 86 4654 62.05 57.92 789.24 23.68
3 GS Chappell 93 4335 54.19 51.71 762.88 22.89
4 SPD Smith 94 4823 59.54 54.44 759.12 22.77
5 KD Walters 60 3024 58.15 50.13 745.19 22.36
6 AR Border 139 5579 45.73 39.94 683.63 20.51
7 MEK Hussey 69 3499 61.39 51.96 671.24 20.14
8 SR Waugh 132 5420 47.54 48.86 659.73 19.79
9 IM Chappell 63 2685 45.51 48.28 628.62 18.86
10 ME Waugh 98 4010 43.59 51.90 606.57 18.20

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AR Border 118 5385 57.29 42.24 794.19 95.30
2 SR Waugh 104 4947 61.07 48.87 793.75 95.25
3 SPD Smith 103 5262 55.98 52.69 792.65 95.12
4 GS Chappell 55 2595 52.96 52.10 699.95 83.99
5 RT Ponting 129 5764 47.64 57.46 682.39 81.89
6 ME Waugh 108 4007 41.31 52.95 611.80 73.42
7 IM Chappell 66 2619 43.65 41.13 597.73 71.73
8 MJ Clarke 109 3904 39.43 53.90 586.34 70.36
9 KD Walters 63 2292 39.52 46.69 558.17 66.98
10 MEK Hussey 57 2252 40.95 47.93 532.25 63.87

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FC/UC RATING

Points to note:-

  • Unfamiliar Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Asians and In Asia for Non Asians.
  • Familiar Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Familiar Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RT Ponting 230 11293 54.56 59.55 852.26 25.57
2 SPD Smith 155 8091 59.06 55.81 847.92 25.44
3 SR Waugh 208 9288 54.32 49.23 792.12 23.76
4 GS Chappell 142 6483 52.71 51.37 786.40 23.59
5 MJ Clarke 159 7303 52.54 56.74 777.21 23.32
6 AR Border 218 9165 50.08 40.46 774.11 23.22
7 KD Walters 115 5030 48.83 49.40 716.01 21.48
8 IM Chappell 121 4980 44.46 45.93 671.84 20.16
9 ME Waugh 170 6921 44.65 52.71 671.47 20.14
10 MEK Hussey 109 4613 48.56 49.41 622.05 18.66

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AR Border 39 1799 54.52 44.25 715.46 85.86
2 MEK Hussey 17 1138 66.94 54.27 666.45 79.97
3 SPD Smith 42 1994 52.47 45.84 664.85 79.78
4 RT Ponting 45 1875 44.64 54.52 648.19 77.78
5 SR Waugh 28 1079 44.96 45.91 546.17 65.54
6 MJ Clarke 36 1255 35.86 52.14 518.46 62.21
7 IM Chappell 8 324 46.29 31.26 500.00 60.00
7 KD Walters 8 286 40.86 40.23 500.00 60.00
7 GS Chappell 6 447 74.50 59.28 500.00 60.00
10 ME Waugh 36 1096 32.24 50.65 472.90 56.75

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC CON PTS
1 AR Border 95.30 20.51 85.86 23.22 224.89
2 SPD Smith 95.12 22.77 79.78 25.44 223.11
3 RT Ponting 81.89 25.04 77.78 25.57 210.28
4 SR Waugh 95.25 19.79 65.54 23.76 204.35
5 GS Chappell 83.99 22.89 60.00 23.59 190.47
6 MEK Hussey 63.87 20.14 79.97 18.66 182.64
7 MJ Clarke 70.36 23.68 62.21 23.32 179.57
8 KD Walters 66.98 22.36 60.00 21.48 170.82
9 IM Chappell 71.73 18.86 60.00 20.16 170.74
10 ME Waugh 73.42 18.20 56.75 20.14 168.50

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 30.00
Top Form Away 120.00
Impact Innings 150.00
TF RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form (TF) is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 MJ Clarke 30 2170 83.46 65.94 868.00 26.04
2 SPD Smith 30 2146 89.42 58.62 856.97 25.71
3 RT Ponting 30 2065 89.78 60.61 853.51 25.61
4 GS Chappell 30 1764 70.56 53.21 725.71 21.77
5 KD Walters 30 1738 69.52 45.42 716.95 21.51
6 SR Waugh 30 1589 72.23 47.69 689.27 20.68
7 IM Chappell 30 1651 55.03 49.89 647.40 19.42
8 AR Border 30 1617 59.89 42.97 644.16 19.32
9 MEK Hussey 30 1596 61.38 56.02 628.85 18.87
10 ME Waugh 30 1466 48.87 54.76 559.09 16.77

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SPD Smith 30 1879 72.27 54.85 832.55 99.91
2 RT Ponting 30 1966 75.62 66.49 832.53 99.90
3 SR Waugh 30 1753 76.22 46.13 792.34 95.08
4 AR Border 30 1637 71.17 47.48 756.25 90.75
5 IM Chappell 30 1664 59.43 44.99 711.75 85.41
6 GS Chappell 30 1409 52.19 52.77 678.62 81.43
7 KD Walters 30 1347 51.81 55.23 661.56 79.39
8 ME Waugh 30 1453 51.89 57.73 632.38 75.89
9 MJ Clarke 30 1381 47.62 57.81 606.35 72.76
10 MEK Hussey 30 1243 42.86 46.99 539.90 64.79

IMPACT INNS

II Rating

Impact Innings (II) are those innings which have a minimum impact in terms of runs or Strike Rate. Know All About II. Points to note about II:-

  • 1st & 2nd and 3rd & 4th innings are clubbed together.
  • A Batsman should score at least 30 runs to qualify.
  • An Inn is included in II if it is 16.67% of the total runs of the higher total or
  • The runs are more than 10.00% of the total runs and
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 50

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis% RAT WTG
1 SPD Smith 175 72 41.14 767.18 115.08
2 SR Waugh 195 73 37.44 726.91 109.04
3 KD Walters 110 45 40.91 709.82 106.47
4 AR Border 216 73 33.80 691.45 103.72
5 RT Ponting 249 87 34.94 686.21 102.93
6 GS Chappell 129 45 34.88 634.01 95.10
7 ME Waugh 189 56 29.63 577.63 86.64
8 MJ Clarke 174 49 28.16 533.69 80.05
9 IM Chappell 119 33 27.73 520.79 78.12
10 MEK Hussey 112 34 30.36 512.50 76.87

SECONDARY RATING

Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BATSMAN TF HM TF AW II SEC RAT
1 SPD Smith 25.71 99.91 115.08 240.69
2 RT Ponting 25.61 99.90 102.93 228.44
3 SR Waugh 20.68 95.08 109.04 224.80
4 AR Border 19.32 90.75 103.72 213.79
5 KD Walters 21.51 79.39 106.47 207.37
6 GS Chappell 21.77 81.43 95.10 198.31
7 IM Chappell 19.42 85.41 78.12 182.95
8 ME Waugh 16.77 75.89 86.64 179.30
9 MJ Clarke 26.04 72.76 80.05 178.86
10 MEK Hussey 18.87 64.79 76.87 160.53

OVERALL RATING

The OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK OV RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 5 SPD Smith AUS 328.28 223.11 240.69 792.09
2 12 RT Ponting AUS 319.34 210.28 228.44 758.06
3 13 AR Border AUS 308.04 224.89 213.79 746.72
4 18 SR Waugh AUS 300.06 204.35 224.80 729.20
5 21 GS Chappell AUS 311.46 190.47 198.31 700.24
6 29 KD Walters AUS 275.32 170.82 207.37 653.51
7 32 MJ Clarke AUS 288.51 179.57 178.86 646.93
8 44 IM Chappell AUS 260.52 170.74 182.95 614.21
9 50 ME Waugh AUS 255.42 168.50 179.30 603.23
10 52 MEK Hussey AUS 255.71 182.64 160.53 598.88

TOP TEAMS

Top Teams In Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS WI PAK IND ENG
1960s WI AUS PAK IND ENG SA
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA AUS
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ AUS
1990s IND PAK SA AUS WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SA

Top Teams Outside Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5
1950s AUS ENG WI SA PAK
1960s ENG AUS WI SA NZ
1970s SA ENG WI AUS IND
1980s WI NZ AUS ENG PAK
1990s AUS SA WI PAK ENG
2000s AUS ENG SA IND NZ
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND
2020s AUS NZ ENG SA IND

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