Tests - Best South African Opening Batsmen

Top 10 South African Opening Batsmen in Tests

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). They are updated till 2026-02-05. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation) and in the last section. Here are the Top 10 South African opening batsmen in Test Cricket since 1950.

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. ATTACKING
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL
3.4.1. Against All Teams
3.4.2. Against Top Teams
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. LOW SCORING INNS
5.2. TOP FORM
5.3. IMPACT INNS
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
6.1. BRIEF EXPLANATION
6.1.1. Dynamic Nature
6.1.2. Trend Setter (TS)
6.1.3. Top Teams (TT)
6.1.4. Abbreviations
Nations Filter

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

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

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to include performances of opening batsmen. Innings played only at the specified position are counted in this rating.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Runs, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form, Low Scoring Inns, Impact Inns

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 25
Min Runs 500

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 4 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 250.00
Consistent Average 400.00
Attacking Strike Rate 100.00
Big Innings Potential Top Inns (Runs) 250.00

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 1976
Era 2 MP between 1975 And 1996
Era 3 MP between 1995 And 2016
Era 4 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS G Boycott ENG 1964 1982 1973 191 8091 230.00
1 TL Goddard SA 1955 1970 1962.5 74 2460 69.93
2 DJ McGlew SA 1952 1962 1957 57 2316 65.84
3 EJ Barlow SA 1961 1970 1965.5 52 2290 65.10
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 203 9607 240.00
1 AC Hudson SA 1992 1997 1994.5 56 1855 46.34
2 KC Wessels SA 1982 1993 1987.5 37 1383 34.55
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS AN Cook ENG 2006 2018 2012 278 11845 250.00
1 GC Smith SA 2002 2014 2008 196 9030 190.59
2 G Kirsten SA 1993 2002 1997.5 149 5726 120.85
3 HH Gibbs SA 1998 2008 2003 116 5242 110.64
RANK ERA 4 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS DA Warner AUS 2011 2024 2017.5 202 8747 240.00
1 D Elgar SA 2014 2024 2019 141 5121 140.51
2 AK Markram SA 2017 2025 2021 85 3083 84.59

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 1000
Min Runs (TT) 800

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS RB Simpson 70 4 3664 55.52 58.31 160.00
1 DJ McGlew 57 5 2316 44.54 51.86 142.29
2 HH Gibbs 116 5 5242 47.23 47.97 131.62
3 GC Smith 196 12 9030 49.08 47.63 130.69
4 EJ Barlow 52 2 2290 45.80 47.21 129.55
5 G Kirsten 149 12 5726 41.80 44.50 122.11
6 KC Wessels 37 2 1383 39.51 40.92 112.27
7 TL Goddard 74 5 2460 35.65 40.14 110.15
8 D Elgar 141 9 5121 38.80 39.64 108.78
9 AK Markram 85 2 3083 37.14 39.29 107.80
10 AC Hudson 56 3 1855 35.00 34.97 95.96

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS RB Simpson 45 4 2199 53.63 60.03 240.00
1 EJ Barlow 37 2 1665 47.57 49.56 198.13
2 AC Hudson 26 2 1089 45.38 49.42 197.58
3 HH Gibbs 65 2 2652 42.10 46.26 184.95
4 DJ McGlew 38 2 1270 35.28 45.55 182.10
5 GC Smith 116 8 4699 43.51 44.32 177.19
6 G Kirsten 81 4 2820 36.62 42.05 168.10
7 TL Goddard 69 5 2227 34.80 39.64 158.49
8 KC Wessels 25 1 852 35.50 39.59 158.30
9 D Elgar 101 5 3276 34.13 37.49 149.90
10 AK Markram 49 0 1489 30.39 34.84 139.28

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 1000
Min Runs (TT) 800
Min Average 25

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS V Sehwag 8207 9875 83.11 82.03 40.00
1 EJ Barlow 602 1280 47.03 59.11 28.82
2 KC Wessels 1383 2710 51.03 58.83 28.69
3 GC Smith 9030 15015 60.14 58.42 28.49
4 AK Markram 3083 5134 60.05 57.47 28.02
5 HH Gibbs 5242 10026 52.28 53.98 26.32
6 D Elgar 5121 10706 47.83 46.47 22.66
7 TL Goddard 612 1714 35.71 46.16 22.51
8 G Kirsten 5726 13758 41.62 45.93 22.39
9 AC Hudson 1855 4700 39.47 45.28 22.08
10 DJ McGlew 367 1452 25.28 32.43 15.82

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS V Sehwag 5890 7098 82.98 81.97 60.00
1 KC Wessels 852 1509 56.46 64.89 47.50
2 EJ Barlow 589 1270 46.38 59.09 43.25
3 AK Markram 1489 2638 56.44 55.08 40.32
4 GC Smith 4699 8336 56.37 55.05 40.29
5 HH Gibbs 2652 5403 49.08 51.87 37.97
6 AC Hudson 1089 2621 41.55 48.62 35.59
7 TL Goddard 612 1714 35.71 46.44 33.99
8 G Kirsten 2820 6923 40.73 45.74 33.48
9 D Elgar 3276 7425 44.12 43.65 31.95
10 DJ McGlew 367 1452 25.28 33.62 24.60

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 scores of the batsman. 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

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 80.00
1 GC Smith 277 259 234 232 200 183 157 220.29 69.62
2 HH Gibbs 228 211* 196 192 183 179 161 192.86 60.95
3 G Kirsten 275 220 210 180 153 150 134 188.86 59.68
4 D Elgar 199 185 160 141* 140 136 129 155.71 49.21
5 DJ McGlew 255* 133 127* 120 108 105 104* 136.00 42.98
6 AK Markram 152 143 143 136 125 115 108 131.71 41.63
7 EJ Barlow 201 138 114 110 109 96 92 122.86 38.83
8 KC Wessels 179 162 141 95* 92 70 70 115.57 36.52
9 AC Hudson 163 146 135 102 90 90 80 115.14 36.39
10 TL Goddard 112 99 93 90 84 80 74 90.29 28.53

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 170.00
1 GC Smith 234 183 154* 151 133 131 125* 158.71 106.59
2 D Elgar 185 160 141* 140 136 127 118* 143.86 96.61
3 G Kirsten 153 150 134 133 108* 103 102 126.14 84.71
4 HH Gibbs 228 161 104 98 98 92 87 124.00 83.27
5 EJ Barlow 201 138 114 110 109 96 78 120.86 81.16
6 AK Markram 152 143 136 108 106 94 84 117.57 78.96
7 AC Hudson 163 146 102 90 80 65 64* 101.43 68.12
8 DJ McGlew 133 108 105 104* 70 69 68 93.86 63.03
9 TL Goddard 112 99 93 90 84 80 74 90.29 60.63
10 KC Wessels 179 162 70 61 53 47 46 88.29 59.29

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 GC Smith 190.59 307.88 176.20 68.78 743.45 297.38
2 HH Gibbs 110.64 316.56 144.22 64.29 635.72 254.29
3 G Kirsten 120.85 290.21 144.40 55.87 611.34 244.53
4 D Elgar 140.51 258.67 145.82 54.61 599.61 239.84
5 EJ Barlow 65.10 327.67 119.99 72.07 584.83 233.93
6 DJ McGlew 65.84 324.39 106.01 40.42 536.66 214.66
7 AK Markram 84.59 247.08 120.58 68.34 520.59 208.24
8 AC Hudson 46.34 293.53 104.50 57.67 502.04 200.82
9 TL Goddard 69.93 268.64 89.16 56.50 484.23 193.69
10 KC Wessels 34.55 270.56 95.81 76.19 477.11 190.84

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.

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: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 D Elgar 75 3276 48.18 50.49 663.71 19.91
2 HH Gibbs 61 2674 46.10 56.94 659.89 19.80
3 GC Smith 96 3777 41.97 64.71 632.63 18.98
4 AK Markram 53 2202 43.18 65.42 563.06 16.89
5 KC Wessels 26 988 41.17 53.58 538.76 16.16
6 G Kirsten 78 2804 39.49 41.83 535.43 16.06
7 EJ Barlow 31 1284 41.42 45.79 534.90 16.05
8 DJ McGlew 26 1078 44.92 25.25 494.35 14.83
9 TL Goddard 39 1318 34.68 33.37 468.52 14.06
10 AC Hudson 32 943 30.42 40.56 425.74 12.77

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GC Smith 100 5253 55.88 57.23 799.95 95.99
2 G Kirsten 71 2922 44.27 41.42 644.35 77.32
3 EJ Barlow 21 1006 52.95 48.85 603.13 72.38
4 HH Gibbs 55 2568 48.45 48.18 575.30 69.04
5 DJ McGlew 31 1238 44.21 25.58 543.67 65.24
6 AC Hudson 24 912 41.45 38.40 537.14 64.46
7 D Elgar 66 1845 28.83 43.75 512.64 61.52
8 KC Wessels 11 395 35.91 45.61 500.00 60.00
9 TL Goddard 35 1142 36.84 38.04 476.63 57.20
10 AK Markram 32 881 27.53 49.83 411.14 49.34

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: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GC Smith 162 7325 48.83 60.94 770.62 23.12
2 HH Gibbs 98 4687 50.40 52.97 711.93 21.36
3 D Elgar 114 4380 40.93 48.21 641.22 19.24
4 EJ Barlow 52 2290 45.80 47.03 627.96 18.84
5 G Kirsten 130 4866 40.89 41.98 626.02 18.78
6 DJ McGlew 57 2316 44.54 25.28 574.63 17.24
7 AK Markram 62 2514 41.90 64.21 570.78 17.12
8 TL Goddard 74 2460 35.65 35.71 519.71 15.59
9 AC Hudson 45 1432 33.30 40.30 505.82 15.17
10 KC Wessels 31 1054 36.34 52.70 494.84 14.85

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GC Smith 34 1705 50.15 56.93 663.07 79.57
2 DJ McGlew 0 0 NA NA 500.00 60.00
2 TL Goddard 0 0 NA NA 500.00 60.00
2 EJ Barlow 0 0 NA NA 500.00 60.00
5 G Kirsten 19 860 47.78 39.69 495.98 59.52
6 D Elgar 27 741 29.64 45.71 433.71 52.05
7 AC Hudson 11 423 42.30 36.88 411.44 49.37
8 KC Wessels 6 329 54.83 46.34 400.63 48.08
9 AK Markram 23 569 24.74 46.68 353.11 42.37
10 HH Gibbs 18 555 30.83 47.11 340.19 40.82

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 GC Smith 95.99 18.98 79.57 23.12 217.66
2 G Kirsten 77.32 16.06 59.52 18.78 171.68
3 EJ Barlow 72.38 16.05 60.00 18.84 167.26
4 DJ McGlew 65.24 14.83 60.00 17.24 157.31
5 D Elgar 61.52 19.91 52.05 19.24 152.71
6 HH Gibbs 69.04 19.80 40.82 21.36 151.01
7 TL Goddard 57.20 14.06 60.00 15.59 146.84
8 AC Hudson 64.46 12.77 49.37 15.17 141.78
9 KC Wessels 60.00 16.16 48.08 14.85 139.08
10 AK Markram 49.34 16.89 42.37 17.12 125.73

SECONDARY CRITERIA

Secondary Rating

It consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

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

CRITERIA POINTS
Low Scoring Inns 50.00
Top Form 100.00
Impact Innings 150.00

LOW SCORING INNS

LSI RATING

Low Scoring Inns (LSI) are those inns in which batting average is less than 30.

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 D Elgar 81 1769 22.68 42.96 660.95 33.05
2 AK Markram 45 1146 25.47 55.60 650.48 32.52
3 HH Gibbs 40 1179 29.48 46.64 641.73 32.09
4 DJ McGlew 38 1032 28.67 22.81 618.89 30.94
5 GC Smith 64 1552 25.44 54.72 600.20 30.01
6 G Kirsten 72 1492 21.94 35.11 570.93 28.55
7 EJ Barlow 19 522 27.47 46.39 515.71 25.79
8 TL Goddard 39 842 22.76 29.51 509.89 25.49
9 AC Hudson 26 683 26.27 36.00 504.67 25.23
10 KC Wessels 14 398 28.43 46.66 496.43 24.82

TOP FORM

TF RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • TF is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • The inns are taken such that his points are maximum.
  • Only innings against Top Teams are considered.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GC Smith 30 1615 62.12 56.85 681.79 68.18
2 HH Gibbs 30 1484 51.17 55.48 642.61 64.26
3 EJ Barlow 30 1368 48.86 50.20 603.76 60.38
4 G Kirsten 30 1302 50.08 40.40 584.75 58.47
5 TL Goddard 30 1221 45.22 38.22 527.38 52.74
6 D Elgar 30 1145 40.89 42.08 524.77 52.48
7 AC Hudson 26 1089 45.38 41.55 523.49 52.35
8 DJ McGlew 30 1103 38.03 25.28 495.11 49.51
9 AK Markram 30 973 32.43 54.30 466.80 46.68
10 KC Wessels 25 852 35.50 56.46 458.28 45.83

IMPACT INNS

II RATING

Impact Inns are those innings which have an impact in terms of runs or strike rate. Know All About II. Points to note about II:-

  • A Batsman should score at least 30 runs to qualify.
  • An Inn is included in II if it is 15 percent of the total runs or
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis% RAT WTG
1 EJ Barlow 50 21 42.00 598.83 89.82
2 GC Smith 184 67 36.41 593.63 89.05
3 DJ McGlew 52 23 44.23 562.00 84.30
4 AC Hudson 53 19 35.85 527.54 79.13
5 G Kirsten 137 47 34.31 521.41 78.21
6 HH Gibbs 111 37 33.33 505.83 75.88
7 TL Goddard 69 24 34.78 478.31 71.75
8 D Elgar 132 42 31.82 462.77 69.41
9 AK Markram 83 29 34.94 448.63 67.29
10 KC Wessels 35 11 31.43 363.31 54.50

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 LSI TF II SEC RAT
1 GC Smith 30.01 68.18 89.05 187.23
2 EJ Barlow 25.79 60.38 89.82 175.99
3 HH Gibbs 32.09 64.26 75.88 172.22
4 G Kirsten 28.55 58.47 78.21 165.23
5 DJ McGlew 30.94 49.51 84.30 164.76
6 AC Hudson 25.23 52.35 79.13 156.71
7 D Elgar 33.05 52.48 69.41 154.94
8 TL Goddard 25.49 52.74 71.75 149.98
9 AK Markram 32.52 46.68 67.29 146.50
10 KC Wessels 24.82 45.83 54.50 125.15

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 8 GC Smith SA 297.38 217.66 187.23 702.27
2 29 G Kirsten SA 244.53 171.68 165.23 581.45
3 32 HH Gibbs SA 254.29 151.01 172.22 577.52
4 33 EJ Barlow SA 233.93 167.26 175.99 577.18
5 42 D Elgar SA 239.84 152.71 154.94 547.49
6 46 DJ McGlew SA 214.66 157.31 164.76 536.73
7 60 AC Hudson SA 200.82 141.78 156.71 499.31
8 64 TL Goddard SA 193.69 146.84 149.98 490.51
9 68 AK Markram SA 208.24 125.73 146.50 480.46
10 78 KC Wessels SA 190.84 139.08 125.15 455.07

BRIEF EXPLANATION

Dynamic Nature

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.

Trend Setter (TS)

  1. TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
  2. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Example:-
  3. TS Runs: 2,000; Player X Runs: 1,000; Section Points: 250.00
  4. TS Points: 250.00 (Max)
  5. Player X Points: Runs/TS Runs X 250 = 1,000/2,000 X 250 = 125.00.
  6. Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  7. Know All About the Trend Setter
    8. .

Top Teams (TT)

  1. An opposition is counted as a TT considering its Win/Loss (WL) Ratios in last 7 years.
  2. Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia and Overall WL Ratio is considered.
  3. The WL Ratio should be more than a certain value overall or in specific condition.

Abbreviations

  1. AVE - Average or Runs/(Inns - Not Out)
  2. BF - Balls Faced
  3. FP - First Played by Year
  4. INF - Infinite
  5. LP - Last Played by Year
  6. MP - Middle Played or (FP+LP)/2
  7. NA - Not Applicable
  8. NI - Not In Top
  9. NK - Not Known
  10. NO, * - Not Out
  11. NQ - Not Qualified
  12. OPP - Opposition
  13. R4BF - Runs for available data of balls
  14. SR - Strike Rate or Runs/Balls
  15. TS - Trend Setter
  16. TT - Top Teams

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