Best New Zealand Batsmen In Tests Featured

Top 10 New Zealand Batsmen In Tests Since 1950

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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 Kiwi 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 New Zealand.

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

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 265 11174 170.00
1 MD Crowe NZ 1982 1995 1988.5 131 5444 82.82
2 JG Wright NZ 1978 1993 1985.5 148 5334 81.15
3 GM Turner NZ 1969 1983 1976 73 2991 45.50
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 329 15921 200.00
1 LRPL Taylor NZ 2007 2022 2014.5 196 7683 96.51
2 SP Fleming NZ 1994 2008 2001 189 7172 90.09
3 BB McCullum NZ 2004 2016 2010 176 6453 81.06
4 MH Richardson NZ 2000 2004 2002 65 2776 34.87
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2024 2018 278 12972 180.00
1 KS Williamson NZ 2010 2024 2017 186 9276 128.71
2 TWM Latham NZ 2014 2024 2019 158 5834 80.95
3 DJ Mitchell NZ 2019 2024 2021.5 52 2059 28.57

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 160 21 8032 57.78 60.14 250.00
1 KS Williamson 186 17 9276 54.89 55.26 229.73
2 DJ Mitchell 52 5 2059 43.81 47.16 196.06
3 GM Turner 73 6 2991 44.64 46.72 194.22
4 MD Crowe 131 11 5444 45.37 44.98 186.99
5 MH Richardson 65 3 2776 44.77 44.48 184.92
6 LRPL Taylor 196 24 7683 44.67 43.49 180.80
7 TWM Latham 158 6 5834 38.38 40.91 170.07
8 JG Wright 148 7 5334 37.83 39.67 164.91
9 BB McCullum 176 9 6453 38.64 38.98 162.04
10 SP Fleming 189 10 7172 40.07 38.84 161.48

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 132 17 6450 56.09 58.37 250.00
1 GM Turner 64 5 2685 45.51 47.63 203.98
2 KS Williamson 135 9 5812 46.13 46.44 198.91
3 DJ Mitchell 43 4 1618 41.49 44.67 191.29
4 MD Crowe 115 10 4544 43.28 42.91 183.77
5 MH Richardson 53 3 2107 42.14 41.87 179.30
6 SP Fleming 140 10 5198 39.98 38.76 166.02
7 BB McCullum 125 5 4550 37.92 38.25 163.82
8 LRPL Taylor 139 12 4860 38.27 37.26 159.58
9 JG Wright 121 5 4089 35.25 36.96 158.31
10 TWM Latham 116 3 3526 31.20 33.26 142.45

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 KS Williamson 251 242* 238 215 200* 200* 192 219.71 119.66
2 BB McCullum 302 225 224 202 195 185 145 211.14 114.99
3 SP Fleming 274* 262 202 192 174* 130 129 194.71 106.04
4 LRPL Taylor 290 217* 200 173* 154* 151 142 189.57 103.24
5 TWM Latham 264* 252 177 176 161 154 137 188.71 102.77
6 MD Crowe 299 188 188 174 143 142 140 182.00 99.12
7 GM Turner 259 223* 117 113 110* 110 101 147.57 80.37
8 JG Wright 185 141 138 130 119 117* 116 135.14 73.60
9 MH Richardson 145 143 106 101 99 95 93 111.71 60.84
10 DJ Mitchell 190 109 108 102* 102 84 82 111.00 60.45

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 N Kapil Dev 4481 5580 80.30 88.85 150.00
1 BB McCullum 6453 9989 64.60 62.11 104.85
2 LRPL Taylor 7683 12958 59.29 57.09 96.38
3 KS Williamson 9276 17912 51.79 49.99 84.40
4 MD Crowe 5444 12197 44.63 48.75 82.30
5 DJ Mitchell 2059 3857 53.38 47.50 80.19
6 SP Fleming 7172 15777 45.46 46.37 78.28
7 TWM Latham 5834 12283 47.50 45.49 76.79
8 GM Turner 1381 4061 34.01 41.44 69.95
9 JG Wright 5156 14619 35.27 40.57 68.49
10 MH Richardson 2776 7370 37.67 36.94 62.36

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 KS Williamson 128.71 428.64 119.66 84.40 761.42 380.71
2 LRPL Taylor 96.51 340.38 103.24 96.38 636.52 318.26
3 MD Crowe 82.82 370.77 99.12 82.30 635.01 317.51
4 BB McCullum 81.06 325.86 114.99 104.85 626.76 313.38
5 SP Fleming 90.09 327.49 106.04 78.28 601.92 300.96
6 GM Turner 45.50 398.19 80.37 69.95 594.02 297.01
7 TWM Latham 80.95 312.51 102.77 76.79 573.04 286.52
8 DJ Mitchell 28.57 387.36 60.45 80.19 556.57 278.29
9 JG Wright 81.15 323.22 73.60 68.49 546.46 273.23
10 MH Richardson 34.87 364.22 60.84 62.36 522.30 261.15

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 KS Williamson 87 5142 66.78 54.99 784.00 196.00
2 BB McCullum 81 3591 47.88 66.83 654.27 163.57
3 LRPL Taylor 87 3905 53.49 60.24 629.48 157.37
4 MD Crowe 52 2401 50.02 44.40 584.51 146.13
5 TWM Latham 76 3033 42.13 49.49 539.70 134.92
6 JG Wright 81 3140 41.87 34.30 535.83 133.96
7 GM Turner 35 1455 45.47 35.76 521.34 130.33
8 MH Richardson 27 1194 47.76 37.94 464.69 116.17
9 DJ Mitchell 27 1024 42.67 53.44 458.07 114.52
10 SP Fleming 89 2947 33.87 45.29 448.37 112.09

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SP Fleming 100 4225 45.92 45.58 636.76 636.76
2 KS Williamson 99 4134 44.93 48.29 625.56 625.56
3 MD Crowe 79 3043 42.26 44.82 583.95 583.95
4 LRPL Taylor 109 3778 38.16 58.34 559.57 559.57
5 DJ Mitchell 25 1035 45.00 53.32 552.71 552.71
6 GM Turner 38 1536 43.89 31.73 552.37 552.37
7 TWM Latham 82 2801 35.01 45.52 509.49 509.49
8 BB McCullum 95 2862 31.11 62.00 500.60 500.60
9 MH Richardson 38 1582 42.76 37.46 483.22 483.22
10 JG Wright 67 2194 33.24 36.67 461.82 461.82

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 KS Williamson 139 7135 57.54 53.07 731.29 182.82
2 LRPL Taylor 149 6282 49.86 59.98 652.90 163.23
3 MD Crowe 107 4715 47.63 45.15 622.71 155.68
4 GM Turner 55 2429 48.58 34.01 596.18 149.04
5 BB McCullum 145 5161 37.40 64.60 591.82 147.95
6 DJ Mitchell 34 1568 52.27 52.18 581.18 145.30
7 SP Fleming 160 5601 36.14 45.56 529.78 132.45
8 JG Wright 128 4625 38.22 35.30 523.68 130.92
9 TWM Latham 116 4290 38.65 47.30 521.60 130.40
10 MH Richardson 54 2320 44.62 37.83 482.17 120.54

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SP Fleming 29 1571 65.46 45.09 688.45 688.45
2 KS Williamson 47 2141 47.58 47.92 682.92 682.92
3 BB McCullum 31 1292 44.55 64.60 593.95 593.95
4 TWM Latham 42 1544 37.66 48.05 547.16 547.16
5 LRPL Taylor 47 1401 30.46 56.38 497.22 497.22
6 MD Crowe 24 729 34.71 41.54 409.27 409.27
7 GM Turner 18 562 33.06 NK 395.31 395.31
8 JG Wright 20 709 35.45 35.08 393.25 393.25
9 MH Richardson 11 456 45.60 36.83 365.75 365.75
10 DJ Mitchell 18 491 28.88 57.63 335.22 335.22

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 KS Williamson 625.56 196.00 682.92 182.82 1,687.30 168.73
2 SP Fleming 636.76 112.09 688.45 132.45 1,569.75 156.98
3 BB McCullum 500.60 163.57 593.95 147.95 1,406.07 140.61
4 LRPL Taylor 559.57 157.37 497.22 163.23 1,377.39 137.74
5 TWM Latham 509.49 134.92 547.16 130.40 1,321.97 132.20
6 MD Crowe 583.95 146.13 409.27 155.68 1,295.03 129.50
7 GM Turner 552.37 130.33 395.31 149.04 1,227.06 122.71
8 DJ Mitchell 552.71 114.52 335.22 145.30 1,147.74 114.77
9 JG Wright 461.82 133.96 393.25 130.92 1,119.95 112.00
10 MH Richardson 483.22 116.17 365.75 120.54 1,085.68 108.57

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 KS Williamson 30 2370 91.15 57.83 881.42 176.28
2 BB McCullum 30 1980 73.33 66.78 788.54 157.71
3 MD Crowe 30 1805 66.85 46.70 697.01 139.40
4 TWM Latham 30 1662 59.36 51.44 678.51 135.70
5 LRPL Taylor 30 1646 65.84 61.51 645.97 129.19
6 JG Wright 30 1571 58.19 37.03 588.50 117.70
7 GM Turner 30 1361 50.41 33.58 505.49 101.10
8 MH Richardson 27 1194 47.76 37.94 462.61 92.52
9 DJ Mitchell 27 1024 42.67 53.44 438.93 87.79
10 SP Fleming 30 1025 35.34 49.18 425.25 85.05

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 KS Williamson 30 1873 72.04 54.23 785.10 628.08
2 SP Fleming 30 1744 62.29 51.54 769.78 615.82
3 LRPL Taylor 30 1492 64.87 62.82 712.68 570.15
4 MD Crowe 30 1412 54.31 45.98 628.35 502.68
5 GM Turner 30 1374 49.07 33.69 623.27 498.62
6 MH Richardson 30 1472 50.76 37.72 559.40 447.52
7 TWM Latham 30 1226 40.87 44.60 528.15 422.52
8 DJ Mitchell 25 1035 45.00 53.32 522.29 417.83
9 BB McCullum 30 989 35.32 59.58 488.94 391.15
10 JG Wright 30 1126 38.83 39.10 475.97 380.78

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 SP Fleming 28 1390 55.60 46.68 823.42 411.71
2 KS Williamson 28 1261 48.50 49.07 790.28 395.14
3 BB McCullum 29 1269 47.00 69.46 770.59 385.30
4 JG Wright 24 1079 46.91 34.99 680.19 340.10
5 TWM Latham 30 854 30.50 48.19 536.79 268.40
6 MD Crowe 20 651 38.29 38.89 527.83 263.92
7 DJ Mitchell 11 477 43.36 50.80 518.94 259.47
8 MH Richardson 8 226 28.25 37.17 500.00 250.00
9 LRPL Taylor 30 738 26.36 57.97 464.24 232.12
10 GM Turner 12 278 25.27 29.11 323.41 161.70

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 KS Williamson 169 55 32.54 706.49 706.49
2 MD Crowe 120 36 30.00 704.52 704.52
3 LRPL Taylor 172 48 27.91 628.84 628.84
4 MH Richardson 62 18 29.03 615.57 615.57
5 GM Turner 67 17 25.37 586.60 586.60
6 SP Fleming 179 42 23.46 578.62 578.62
7 JG Wright 141 33 23.40 545.83 545.83
8 BB McCullum 167 33 19.76 451.75 451.75
9 DJ Mitchell 47 9 19.15 451.65 451.65
10 TWM Latham 152 26 17.11 399.92 399.92

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 KS Williamson 176.28 628.08 395.14 706.49 1,905.99 190.60
2 SP Fleming 85.05 615.82 411.71 578.62 1,691.20 169.12
3 MD Crowe 139.40 502.68 263.92 704.52 1,610.52 161.05
4 LRPL Taylor 129.19 570.15 232.12 628.84 1,560.30 156.03
5 MH Richardson 92.52 447.52 250.00 615.57 1,405.61 140.56
6 BB McCullum 157.71 391.15 385.30 451.75 1,385.90 138.59
7 JG Wright 117.70 380.78 340.10 545.83 1,384.40 138.44
8 GM Turner 101.10 498.62 161.70 586.60 1,348.02 134.80
9 TWM Latham 135.70 422.52 268.40 399.92 1,226.54 122.65
10 DJ Mitchell 87.79 417.83 259.47 451.65 1,216.74 121.67

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 16 KS Williamson NZ 380.71 168.73 190.60 740.04
2 51 SP Fleming NZ 300.96 156.98 169.12 627.05
3 58 LRPL Taylor NZ 318.26 137.74 156.03 612.03
4 65 MD Crowe NZ 317.51 129.50 161.05 608.06
5 79 BB McCullum NZ 313.38 140.61 138.59 592.58
6 107 GM Turner NZ 297.01 122.71 134.80 554.52
7 121 TWM Latham NZ 286.52 132.20 122.65 541.37
8 139 JG Wright NZ 273.23 112.00 138.44 523.67
9 152 DJ Mitchell NZ 278.29 114.77 121.67 514.73
10 157 MH Richardson NZ 261.15 108.57 140.56 510.28

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
FULL RATING WITH ALL NATIONS

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