Tests Decades - Best Batsmen In 1980s Featured

Top Test Batsmen of the Decade (1980 – 1989)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 1980s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 10 batsmen in Test Cricket in the 1980s.

*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
4.2.1.2. Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.2.2.2. Asians Outside 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. DECADES RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia

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 25

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

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK BATSMAN NAT INNS RUNS RAT
TS AR Border AUS 164 7386 200.00
1 AR Border AUS 164 7386 200.00
2 DI Gower ENG 157 6196 167.78
3 Javed Miandad PAK 110 5642 152.78
4 IVA Richards WI 112 5113 138.45
5 CG Greenidge WI 123 5094 137.94
6 SM Gavaskar IND 106 4475 121.18
7 M Amarnath IND 68 2912 78.85
8 CH Lloyd WI 61 2881 78.01
9 GS Chappell AUS 55 2712 73.44
10 DM Jones AUS 53 2370 64.18

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 1500

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Chappell 55 6 2712 55.35 57.86 250.00
1 GS Chappell 55 6 2712 55.35 57.86 250.00
2 AR Border 164 30 7386 55.12 55.80 241.07
3 CH Lloyd 61 6 2881 52.38 54.63 236.01
4 Javed Miandad 110 7 5642 54.78 53.50 231.16
5 DM Jones 53 7 2370 51.52 51.55 222.73
6 IVA Richards 112 8 5113 49.16 50.20 216.88
7 CG Greenidge 123 12 5094 45.89 47.91 207.00
8 M Amarnath 68 7 2912 47.74 47.88 206.85
9 SM Gavaskar 106 9 4475 46.13 47.70 206.10
10 DI Gower 157 11 6196 42.44 43.00 185.80

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Chappell 49 6 2278 52.98 55.39 250.00
1 GS Chappell 49 6 2278 52.98 55.39 250.00
2 AR Border 149 29 6560 54.67 55.34 249.78
3 CH Lloyd 55 6 2474 50.49 52.65 237.66
4 Javed Miandad 86 5 4328 53.43 52.19 235.57
5 IVA Richards 101 8 4696 50.49 51.56 232.72
6 DM Jones 48 6 2109 50.21 50.24 226.79
7 CG Greenidge 109 10 4458 45.03 47.01 212.20
8 M Amarnath 59 6 2439 46.02 46.15 208.32
9 SM Gavaskar 91 7 3670 43.69 45.18 203.92
10 DI Gower 145 9 5757 42.33 42.89 193.62

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 Javed Miandad 280* 271 260 211 203* 145 138 215.43 150.00
1 Javed Miandad 280* 271 260 211 203* 145 138 215.43 150.00
2 CG Greenidge 223 214* 213 194 154* 141 127 180.86 125.93
3 GS Chappell 235 204 201 182 176 150* 117 180.71 125.83
4 SM Gavaskar 236* 176 172 172 166* 166 155 177.57 123.64
5 AR Border 205 196 163 153 152* 150* 146* 166.43 115.88
6 DI Gower 215 173* 166 157 154* 152 136 164.71 114.69
7 DM Jones 216 210 184* 157 122 118* 102 158.43 110.31
8 IVA Richards 208 182* 178 146 145 123 120* 157.43 109.62
9 CH Lloyd 161* 143 121 114 106 103 101 121.29 84.45
10 M Amarnath 138 131 120 117 116* 116 109* 121.00 84.25

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 1500
Min Average 25
RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 2805 3332 84.18 91.33 150.00
1 IVA Richards 4653 6587 70.64 76.83 126.19
2 GS Chappell 2712 4962 54.66 60.84 99.92
3 CH Lloyd 2423 4347 55.74 60.49 99.36
4 DI Gower 6196 12472 49.68 54.27 89.13
5 CG Greenidge 4614 9644 47.84 53.91 88.54
6 DM Jones 2370 4868 48.69 53.43 87.76
7 Javed Miandad 4945 10476 47.20 51.45 84.51
8 SM Gavaskar 3655 8281 44.14 49.46 81.24
9 AR Border 7340 17417 42.14 46.42 76.25
10 M Amarnath 1680 4000 42.00 45.76 75.16

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 500.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 AR Border 200.00 490.85 115.88 76.25 882.98 441.49
2 Javed Miandad 152.78 466.73 150.00 84.51 854.02 427.01
3 IVA Richards 138.45 449.61 109.62 126.19 823.86 411.93
4 GS Chappell 73.44 500.00 125.83 99.92 799.18 399.59
5 CG Greenidge 137.94 419.19 125.93 88.54 771.60 385.80
6 DI Gower 167.78 379.41 114.69 89.13 751.01 375.51
7 SM Gavaskar 121.18 410.02 123.64 81.24 736.08 368.04
8 CH Lloyd 78.01 473.66 84.45 99.36 735.48 367.74
9 DM Jones 64.18 449.52 110.31 87.76 711.76 355.88
10 M Amarnath 78.85 415.16 84.25 75.16 653.42 326.71

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 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: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Javed Miandad 55 3005 60.10 47.64 817.33 204.33
2 IVA Richards 37 1946 57.24 70.06 814.53 203.63
3 SM Gavaskar 54 2650 54.08 47.94 762.98 190.74
4 AR Border 91 3847 47.49 41.14 754.88 188.72
5 CH Lloyd 15 960 64.00 60.44 721.71 180.43
6 GS Chappell 43 1924 50.63 52.63 717.36 179.34
7 DI Gower 89 3286 38.66 50.95 685.86 171.46
8 DM Jones 29 1324 52.96 47.00 660.03 165.01
9 CG Greenidge 46 1868 47.90 48.49 653.07 163.27
10 M Amarnath 34 945 29.53 45.05 407.12 101.78

Away From Home

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AR Border 73 3539 66.77 43.31 829.19 829.19
2 M Amarnath 34 1967 67.83 40.06 724.30 724.30
3 CG Greenidge 77 3226 44.81 47.51 720.00 720.00
4 GS Chappell 12 788 71.64 60.34 717.42 717.42
5 IVA Richards 75 3167 45.24 70.98 712.01 712.01
6 Javed Miandad 55 2637 49.75 46.71 690.67 690.67
7 DI Gower 68 2910 47.70 48.31 666.57 666.57
8 CH Lloyd 46 1921 48.03 54.24 618.72 618.72
9 DM Jones 24 1046 49.81 51.00 568.21 568.21
10 SM Gavaskar 52 1825 38.02 38.78 540.74 540.74

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: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AR Border 143 6351 53.37 41.63 848.29 212.07
2 IVA Richards 86 3973 49.66 71.59 818.33 204.58
3 CG Greenidge 102 4291 46.64 47.94 768.16 192.04
4 GS Chappell 49 2265 52.67 53.83 751.81 187.95
5 DI Gower 133 5058 40.14 50.91 723.46 180.87
6 DM Jones 42 1955 52.84 49.18 701.78 175.45
7 CH Lloyd 47 2279 51.80 56.17 694.98 173.75

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Javed Miandad 73 3788 56.54 47.02 902.60 225.65
2 SM Gavaskar 73 3390 51.36 46.90 851.70 212.92
3 M Amarnath 51 1919 42.64 44.93 626.33 156.58

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AR Border 21 1035 69.00 45.59 925.04 925.04
2 DI Gower 24 1138 56.90 44.86 875.13 875.13
3 IVA Richards 26 1140 47.50 66.94 863.00 863.00
4 CG Greenidge 21 803 42.26 47.22 734.49 734.49
5 GS Chappell 6 447 74.50 59.28 733.29 733.29
6 CH Lloyd 14 602 54.73 54.02 705.08 705.08
7 DM Jones 11 415 46.11 46.47 564.94 564.94

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Javed Miandad 37 1854 51.50 47.51 865.75 865.75
2 M Amarnath 17 993 62.06 34.65 660.25 660.25
3 SM Gavaskar 33 1085 35.00 36.92 578.34 578.34

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 AR Border 829.19 188.72 925.04 212.07 2,155.02 215.50
2 Javed Miandad 690.67 204.33 865.75 225.65 1,986.40 198.64
3 IVA Richards 712.01 203.63 863.00 204.58 1,983.22 198.32
4 DI Gower 666.57 171.46 875.13 180.87 1,894.04 189.40
5 GS Chappell 717.42 179.34 733.29 187.95 1,818.01 181.80
6 CG Greenidge 720.00 163.27 734.49 192.04 1,809.80 180.98
7 CH Lloyd 618.72 180.43 705.08 173.75 1,677.97 167.80
8 M Amarnath 724.30 101.78 660.25 156.58 1,642.91 164.29
9 SM Gavaskar 540.74 190.74 578.34 212.92 1,522.74 152.27
10 DM Jones 568.21 165.01 564.94 175.45 1,473.60 147.36

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

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 20 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our DECADES Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Javed Miandad 20 1463 91.44 53.89 887.54 177.51
2 IVA Richards 20 1173 65.17 64.98 736.85 147.37
3 DI Gower 20 1203 60.15 55.21 731.43 146.29
4 SM Gavaskar 20 1136 71.00 42.63 705.08 141.02
5 GS Chappell 20 1085 60.28 52.70 692.68 138.54
6 AR Border 20 1137 63.17 42.54 683.90 136.78
7 CG Greenidge 20 996 76.62 47.66 679.62 135.92
8 DM Jones 20 1007 59.24 45.40 643.80 128.76
9 CH Lloyd 15 960 64.00 60.44 635.20 127.04
10 M Amarnath 20 877 48.72 46.40 525.82 105.16

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Javed Miandad 20 1356 71.37 47.98 869.10 695.28
2 M Amarnath 20 1267 74.53 54.07 796.88 637.50
3 AR Border 20 1132 70.75 48.36 777.71 622.17
4 CG Greenidge 20 1061 62.41 58.05 776.96 621.57
5 CH Lloyd 20 1130 70.63 55.88 748.03 598.43
6 GS Chappell 12 788 71.64 60.34 710.27 568.22
7 DM Jones 20 981 57.71 52.71 685.49 548.39
8 IVA Richards 20 1053 55.42 69.19 677.87 542.30
9 DI Gower 20 1001 55.61 48.81 660.46 528.37
10 SM Gavaskar 20 911 53.59 37.29 630.25 504.20

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: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 IVA Richards 22 916 48.21 70.62 867.01 433.51
2 AR Border 29 1072 42.88 36.07 790.45 395.23
3 GS Chappell 11 534 66.75 63.35 767.25 383.62
4 CG Greenidge 27 950 39.58 46.64 742.90 371.45
5 Javed Miandad 16 709 50.64 45.42 684.38 342.19
6 DM Jones 8 399 66.50 44.04 645.31 322.65
7 DI Gower 29 824 30.52 52.85 642.34 321.17
8 CH Lloyd 11 428 42.80 53.42 581.23 290.62
9 SM Gavaskar 13 363 33.00 35.49 446.21 223.10
10 M Amarnath 10 306 34.00 NK 439.00 219.50

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: 25

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis% RAT WTG
1 IVA Richards 104 40 38.46 930.82 930.82
2 AR Border 134 39 29.10 818.92 818.92
3 M Amarnath 61 17 27.87 743.99 743.99
4 Javed Miandad 103 32 31.07 731.76 731.76
5 CH Lloyd 55 18 32.73 722.70 722.70
6 DI Gower 146 37 25.34 700.38 700.38
7 CG Greenidge 111 28 25.23 603.02 603.02
8 GS Chappell 49 14 28.57 600.56 600.56
9 SM Gavaskar 97 25 25.77 566.14 566.14
10 DM Jones 46 12 26.09 556.73 556.73

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 250.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN TF HM TF AW DIF RNS II TOT SEC RAT
1 IVA Richards 147.37 542.30 433.51 930.82 2,053.99 205.40
2 AR Border 136.78 622.17 395.23 818.92 1,973.09 197.31
3 Javed Miandad 177.51 695.28 342.19 731.76 1,946.74 194.67
4 CH Lloyd 127.04 598.43 290.62 722.70 1,738.78 173.88
5 CG Greenidge 135.92 621.57 371.45 603.02 1,731.97 173.20
6 M Amarnath 105.16 637.50 219.50 743.99 1,706.16 170.62
7 DI Gower 146.29 528.37 321.17 700.38 1,696.20 169.62
8 GS Chappell 138.54 568.22 383.62 600.56 1,690.93 169.09
9 DM Jones 128.76 548.39 322.65 556.73 1,556.54 155.65
10 SM Gavaskar 141.02 504.20 223.10 566.14 1,434.46 143.45

DECADES RATING

The DECADES 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 BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 AR Border AUS 441.49 215.50 197.31 854.30
2 Javed Miandad PAK 427.01 198.64 194.67 820.32
3 IVA Richards WI 411.93 198.32 205.40 815.65
4 GS Chappell AUS 399.59 181.80 169.09 750.49
5 CG Greenidge WI 385.80 180.98 173.20 739.98
6 DI Gower ENG 375.51 189.40 169.62 734.53
7 CH Lloyd WI 367.74 167.80 173.88 709.42
8 SM Gavaskar IND 368.04 152.27 143.45 663.76
9 M Amarnath IND 326.71 164.29 170.62 661.62
10 DM Jones AUS 355.88 147.36 155.65 658.89

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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