Best English Test Middle Order Batsmen Featured

Top 10 English 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 English middle order (3-6) batsmen in Test Cricket since 1950.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-02-15

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. DIFFICULT RUNS
5.4. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. 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 England.

  • The Rating of the players from England remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from England.
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 and Away, Difficult Runs, 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 50

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 DI Gower ENG 1978 1992 1985 199 8042 124.69
2 KF Barrington ENG 1955 1968 1961.5 125 6569 101.85
3 MC Cowdrey ENG 1954 1975 1964.5 148 5963 92.46
4 PBH May ENG 1951 1961 1956 105 4525 70.16
5 ER Dexter ENG 1958 1968 1963 100 4432 68.72
6 AW Greig ENG 1972 1977 1974.5 85 3399 52.70
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 324 15789 200.00
1 KP Pietersen ENG 2005 2014 2009.5 180 8169 103.48
2 GP Thorpe ENG 1993 2005 1999 176 6616 83.81
3 IJL Trott ENG 2009 2013 2011 83 3677 46.58
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2024 2018 266 12555 180.00
1 JE Root ENG 2012 2024 2018 266 12555 180.00

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 2500

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 135 16 7048 59.23 60.73 250.00
1 KF Barrington 125 14 6569 59.18 58.15 239.38
2 JE Root 266 22 12555 51.45 53.43 219.93
3 PBH May 105 9 4525 47.14 52.18 214.81
4 ER Dexter 100 8 4432 48.17 48.85 201.09
5 IJL Trott 83 6 3677 47.75 46.36 190.83
6 MC Cowdrey 148 12 5963 43.85 45.81 188.59
7 AW Greig 85 4 3399 41.96 45.37 186.78
8 DI Gower 199 16 8042 43.95 44.72 184.11
9 KP Pietersen 180 8 8169 47.49 44.70 184.02
10 GP Thorpe 176 27 6616 44.40 44.55 183.38

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 112 12 5793 57.93 59.40 250.00
1 KF Barrington 107 11 5545 57.76 56.76 238.87
2 JE Root 226 18 10750 51.68 53.66 225.85
3 PBH May 79 6 3446 47.21 52.26 219.95
4 ER Dexter 88 7 3734 46.10 46.74 196.73
5 AW Greig 76 4 3074 42.69 46.16 194.29
6 MC Cowdrey 128 10 5145 43.60 45.56 191.74
7 IJL Trott 69 4 2952 45.42 44.09 185.55
8 DI Gower 173 12 6874 42.70 43.45 182.88
9 GP Thorpe 142 19 5206 42.33 42.46 178.71
10 KP Pietersen 143 5 6181 44.79 42.16 177.42

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 JE Root 262 254 228 226 218 200* 190 225.43 122.77
2 KP Pietersen 227 226 202* 186 175 158 158 190.29 103.63
3 DI Gower 215 200* 173* 166 157* 157 154* 174.57 95.07
4 KF Barrington 256 172 163 151* 148* 148 143 168.71 91.88
5 ER Dexter 205 180 174 172 172 141 136* 168.57 91.80
5 IJL Trott 226 203 184 168* 143 135* 121 168.57 91.80
7 PBH May 285* 138 135 124* 117 113* 113 146.43 79.75
8 MC Cowdrey 160 154 152 151 148 119 113 142.43 77.57
9 GP Thorpe 200* 138 138 124 123 123 119* 137.86 75.08
10 AW Greig 148 148 139 121 116 110 106 126.86 69.09

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 2500
Min Average 25
RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS IVA Richards 6609 9580 68.99 75.84 150.00
1 KP Pietersen 8169 13246 61.67 59.24 117.17
2 DI Gower 8042 15961 50.39 55.60 109.97
3 JE Root 12555 21554 58.25 54.90 108.58
4 AW Greig 3186 6891 46.23 53.66 106.12
5 ER Dexter 1150 2730 42.12 53.03 104.88
6 KF Barrington 2202 5123 42.98 51.91 102.67
7 PBH May 1709 4555 37.52 51.21 101.28
8 GP Thorpe 6616 14365 46.06 47.81 94.56
9 IJL Trott 3677 7693 47.80 46.83 92.62
10 MC Cowdrey 2525 6945 36.36 46.22 91.41

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 half of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 JE Root 180.00 445.77 122.77 108.58 857.12 428.56
2 KF Barrington 101.85 478.26 91.88 102.67 774.66 387.33
3 DI Gower 124.69 366.98 95.07 109.97 696.71 348.36
4 PBH May 70.16 434.76 79.75 101.28 685.95 342.98
5 KP Pietersen 103.48 361.44 103.63 117.17 685.72 342.86
6 ER Dexter 68.72 397.82 91.80 104.88 663.23 331.61
7 MC Cowdrey 92.46 380.33 77.57 91.41 641.77 320.88
8 GP Thorpe 83.81 362.09 75.08 94.56 615.54 307.77
9 AW Greig 52.70 381.06 69.09 106.12 608.98 304.49
10 IJL Trott 46.58 376.38 91.80 92.62 607.38 303.69

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 250.00
Away 1,000.00
Familiar Conditions 250.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 1,000.00

HOME/AWAY

HOME/AWAY 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: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JE Root 127 6419 56.31 61.24 814.88 203.72
2 PBH May 57 2865 57.30 35.97 751.06 187.76
3 KP Pietersen 88 4525 53.24 66.09 687.20 171.80
4 DI Gower 112 4449 43.19 51.91 648.97 162.24
5 KF Barrington 70 3169 50.30 42.29 627.39 156.85
6 IJL Trott 44 2041 51.03 50.16 564.28 141.07
7 MC Cowdrey 63 2551 43.98 37.94 563.21 140.80
8 GP Thorpe 83 3229 44.23 50.46 549.81 137.45
9 ER Dexter 52 2125 43.37 42.15 542.50 135.63
10 AW Greig 43 1494 36.44 49.88 497.78 124.45

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 KF Barrington 55 3400 70.83 45.15 792.27 792.27
2 JE Root 139 6136 47.20 55.41 769.98 769.98
3 ER Dexter 48 2307 53.65 42.06 653.53 653.53
4 DI Gower 87 3593 44.91 48.61 633.15 633.15
5 AW Greig 42 1905 47.63 43.43 602.52 602.52
6 MC Cowdrey 85 3412 43.74 35.73 601.83 601.83
7 GP Thorpe 93 3387 44.57 42.52 574.41 574.41
8 KP Pietersen 92 3644 41.89 56.95 573.94 573.94
9 IJL Trott 39 1636 44.22 45.14 524.75 524.75
10 PBH May 48 1660 36.09 39.32 498.64 498.64

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS 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: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JE Root 207 9844 52.36 58.32 807.48 201.87
2 KF Barrington 112 5666 56.10 42.98 701.68 175.42
3 KP Pietersen 138 6596 49.59 61.43 670.82 167.70
4 PBH May 105 4525 47.14 37.52 658.85 164.71
5 DI Gower 177 6954 42.40 51.34 656.72 164.18
6 MC Cowdrey 140 5521 42.80 36.36 604.96 151.24
7 ER Dexter 87 3720 45.37 42.12 593.22 148.30
8 IJL Trott 65 2977 50.46 49.19 589.40 147.35
9 GP Thorpe 152 5659 43.87 47.31 588.62 147.16
10 AW Greig 65 2462 39.08 49.25 540.07 135.02

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JE Root 59 2711 48.41 57.99 830.12 830.12
2 KF Barrington 13 903 90.30 NK 694.63 694.63
3 KP Pietersen 42 1573 40.33 62.72 632.87 632.87
4 DI Gower 22 1088 57.26 45.03 595.57 595.57
5 ER Dexter 13 712 71.20 NK 579.18 579.18
6 AW Greig 20 937 52.06 38.27 538.39 538.39
7 PBH May 0 0 NA NA 500.00 500.00
7 MC Cowdrey 8 442 63.14 NK 500.00 500.00
9 GP Thorpe 24 957 47.85 39.81 476.98 476.98
10 IJL Trott 18 700 38.89 42.66 427.52 427.52

CONDITIONS RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 JE Root 769.98 203.72 830.12 201.87 2,005.70 200.57
2 KF Barrington 792.27 156.85 694.63 175.42 1,819.17 181.92
3 DI Gower 633.15 162.24 595.57 164.18 1,555.14 155.51
4 KP Pietersen 573.94 171.80 632.87 167.70 1,546.32 154.63
5 ER Dexter 653.53 135.63 579.18 148.30 1,516.64 151.66
6 AW Greig 602.52 124.45 538.39 135.02 1,400.37 140.04
7 MC Cowdrey 601.83 140.80 500.00 151.24 1,393.87 139.39
8 PBH May 498.64 187.76 500.00 164.71 1,351.12 135.11
9 GP Thorpe 574.41 137.45 476.98 147.16 1,335.99 133.60
10 IJL Trott 524.75 141.07 427.52 147.35 1,240.68 124.07

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four 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 four secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 200.00
Top Form Away 800.00
Difficult Runs 500.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form 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: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 PBH May 30 2020 80.80 38.10 779.11 155.82
2 JE Root 30 1741 64.48 68.19 717.92 143.58
3 KF Barrington 30 1814 69.77 41.77 713.62 142.72
4 KP Pietersen 30 1862 62.07 69.40 703.46 140.69
5 DI Gower 30 1569 54.10 55.25 634.57 126.91
6 IJL Trott 30 1549 59.58 50.47 629.80 125.96
7 ER Dexter 30 1468 50.62 43.28 587.71 117.54
8 GP Thorpe 30 1407 54.12 50.65 562.05 112.41
9 MC Cowdrey 30 1275 43.97 NK 527.30 105.46
10 AW Greig 30 1157 39.90 52.98 506.40 101.28

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 KF Barrington 30 2145 89.38 NK 858.84 687.07
2 JE Root 30 1748 58.27 56.51 786.22 628.98
3 ER Dexter 30 1737 66.81 43.81 742.75 594.20
4 MC Cowdrey 30 1620 64.80 45.91 712.64 570.11
5 KP Pietersen 30 1505 53.75 61.35 660.07 528.06
6 DI Gower 30 1470 52.50 55.30 657.49 525.99
7 AW Greig 30 1511 50.37 45.66 642.22 513.78
8 GP Thorpe 30 1362 61.91 44.52 639.72 511.78
9 IJL Trott 30 1427 50.96 46.27 614.68 491.74
10 PBH May 30 1022 35.24 40.54 496.03 396.82

DIFFICULT RUNS

DIFF RNS RATING

Points to note:-

  • Difficult Runs are runs scored in the first and fourth innings after losing the toss.
  • Only performances against Top Teams are considered in this rating.

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 KP Pietersen 34 1583 52.77 61.52 837.41 418.70
2 JE Root 47 1419 35.48 49.44 726.40 363.20
3 IJL Trott 14 757 58.23 46.50 662.90 331.45
4 DI Gower 35 1108 34.63 51.34 645.31 322.66
5 GP Thorpe 39 986 32.87 44.29 558.11 279.06
6 ER Dexter 13 503 50.30 34.23 548.01 274.00
7 PBH May 16 524 37.43 41.21 524.68 262.34
8 AW Greig 16 520 37.14 45.94 523.25 261.62
9 MC Cowdrey 27 725 32.95 33.90 489.73 244.86
10 KF Barrington 14 379 34.45 47.04 451.44 225.72

IMPACT INNINGS

Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an 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 20% of the total runs of the higher total or
  • The runs are more than 12.5% of the total runs and
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis% RAT WTG
1 KF Barrington 111 39 35.14 878.74 878.74
2 GP Thorpe 149 50 33.56 807.32 807.32
3 JE Root 244 78 31.97 803.24 803.24
4 AW Greig 81 23 28.40 712.46 712.46
5 DI Gower 183 50 27.32 702.99 702.99
6 MC Cowdrey 136 38 27.94 667.14 667.14
7 PBH May 96 30 31.25 620.65 620.65
8 KP Pietersen 172 45 26.16 581.69 581.69
9 ER Dexter 92 20 21.74 539.55 539.55
10 IJL Trott 77 18 23.38 503.97 503.97

SECONDARY RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN TF HM TF AW DIF RNS II TOT SEC RAT
1 JE Root 143.58 628.98 363.20 803.24 1,939.00 193.90
2 KF Barrington 142.72 687.07 225.72 878.74 1,934.26 193.43
3 GP Thorpe 112.41 511.78 279.06 807.32 1,710.56 171.06
4 DI Gower 126.91 525.99 322.66 702.99 1,678.55 167.86
5 KP Pietersen 140.69 528.06 418.70 581.69 1,669.14 166.91
6 AW Greig 101.28 513.78 261.62 712.46 1,589.14 158.91
7 MC Cowdrey 105.46 570.11 244.86 667.14 1,587.58 158.76
8 ER Dexter 117.54 594.20 274.00 539.55 1,525.30 152.53
9 IJL Trott 125.96 491.74 331.45 503.97 1,453.13 145.31
10 PBH May 155.82 396.82 262.34 620.65 1,435.63 143.56

OVERALL RATING

The OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK OV RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 2 JE Root ENG 428.56 200.57 193.90 823.03
2 11 KF Barrington ENG 387.33 181.92 193.43 762.67
3 27 DI Gower ENG 348.36 155.51 167.86 671.73
4 28 KP Pietersen ENG 342.86 154.63 166.91 664.40
5 32 ER Dexter ENG 331.61 151.66 152.53 635.81
6 39 PBH May ENG 342.98 135.11 143.56 621.65
7 43 MC Cowdrey ENG 320.88 139.39 158.76 619.03
8 48 GP Thorpe ENG 307.77 133.60 171.06 612.42
9 54 AW Greig ENG 304.49 140.04 158.91 603.44
10 63 IJL Trott ENG 303.69 124.07 145.31 573.07

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 NZ ENG
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ IND
1990s IND PAK SA AUS SL WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG NZ SA
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SL

Top Teams Outside Asia

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

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