Best South African Batsmen In Tests Featured

Top 10 South African 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 South African 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 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.

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 EJ Barlow SA 1961 1970 1965.5 57 2516 38.28
2 DJ McGlew SA 1951 1962 1956.5 64 2440 37.12
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 329 15921 200.00
1 JH Kallis SA 1995 2013 2004 280 13289 166.94
2 HM Amla SA 2004 2019 2011.5 215 9282 116.60
3 GC Smith SA 2002 2014 2008 205 9265 116.39
4 AB de Villiers SA 2004 2018 2011 191 8765 110.11
5 G Kirsten SA 1993 2004 1998.5 176 7289 91.56
6 HH Gibbs SA 1996 2008 2002 154 6167 77.47
7 DJ Cullinan SA 1993 2001 1997 115 4554 57.21
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2024 2018 278 12972 180.00
1 Q de Kock SA 2014 2021 2017.5 91 3300 45.79

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 JH Kallis 280 40 13289 55.37 53.62 222.91
2 AB de Villiers 191 18 8765 50.66 49.97 207.74
3 DJ McGlew 64 6 2440 42.07 48.99 203.67
4 GC Smith 205 13 9265 48.26 48.03 199.65
5 G Kirsten 176 15 7289 45.27 46.93 195.08
6 EJ Barlow 57 2 2516 45.75 46.19 192.03
7 HM Amla 215 16 9282 46.64 45.85 190.60
8 DJ Cullinan 115 12 4554 44.21 44.09 183.30
9 Q de Kock 91 6 3300 38.82 41.92 174.25
10 HH Gibbs 154 7 6167 41.95 41.88 174.10

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 JH Kallis 218 25 9846 51.02 49.40 211.59
2 HM Amla 176 15 7611 47.27 46.47 199.02
3 EJ Barlow 57 2 2516 45.75 46.19 197.84
4 AB de Villiers 157 11 6791 46.51 45.88 196.49
5 G Kirsten 139 12 5581 43.94 45.55 195.09
6 GC Smith 161 10 6561 43.45 43.25 185.21
7 DJ McGlew 52 4 1766 36.79 42.85 183.51
8 DJ Cullinan 86 9 3187 41.39 41.28 176.78
9 Q de Kock 74 4 2621 37.44 40.43 173.14
10 HH Gibbs 115 3 4380 39.11 39.04 167.20

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 GC Smith 277 259 234 232 200 183 157 220.29 119.97
2 HM Amla 311* 253* 208 201 196 176* 159 214.86 117.01
3 HH Gibbs 228 211* 196 192 183 179 161 192.86 105.03
4 G Kirsten 275 220 210 180 160 153 150 192.57 104.88
5 AB de Villiers 278* 217* 178 174 169 164 163 191.86 104.49
6 JH Kallis 224 201* 189* 186 182* 177 173 190.29 103.63
7 DJ Cullinan 275* 168 153* 152 134 122* 120 160.57 87.45
8 DJ McGlew 255* 133 127* 120 108 105 104* 136.00 74.07
9 EJ Barlow 201 138 127 114 110 109 96 127.86 69.63
10 Q de Kock 141* 129* 129 111 104 101 96 115.86 63.10

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 Q de Kock 3300 4652 70.94 66.80 112.77
2 GC Smith 9265 15453 59.96 57.45 97.00
3 EJ Barlow 752 1695 44.37 53.70 90.65
4 AB de Villiers 8765 16048 54.62 52.50 88.64
5 DJ Cullinan 4554 9322 48.85 51.95 87.71
6 HH Gibbs 6167 12270 50.26 50.14 84.65
7 HM Amla 9282 18574 49.97 48.22 81.40
8 G Kirsten 7289 16781 43.44 46.18 77.96
9 JH Kallis 13289 28899 45.98 45.88 77.45
10 DJ McGlew 437 1700 25.71 33.95 57.31

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 JH Kallis 166.94 434.49 103.63 77.45 782.51 391.26
2 GC Smith 116.39 384.87 119.97 97.00 718.22 359.11
3 AB de Villiers 110.11 404.24 104.49 88.64 707.47 353.73
4 HM Amla 116.60 389.61 117.01 81.40 704.63 352.32
5 G Kirsten 91.56 390.17 104.88 77.96 664.57 332.29
6 HH Gibbs 77.47 341.30 105.03 84.65 608.45 304.22
7 DJ Cullinan 57.21 360.08 87.45 87.71 592.44 296.22
8 EJ Barlow 38.28 389.87 69.63 90.65 588.43 294.22
9 Q de Kock 45.79 347.39 63.10 112.77 569.05 284.52
10 DJ McGlew 37.12 387.17 74.07 57.31 555.67 277.84

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. 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 JH Kallis 143 7035 56.73 47.73 751.44 187.86
2 HM Amla 117 5135 46.68 51.32 635.29 158.82
3 AB de Villiers 109 4788 47.41 57.44 622.22 155.55
4 GC Smith 103 3986 41.52 64.02 572.62 143.16
5 G Kirsten 88 3384 42.30 44.30 565.88 141.47
6 HH Gibbs 79 3055 41.28 55.68 556.16 139.04
7 Q de Kock 50 1927 41.89 73.49 548.46 137.12
8 DJ Cullinan 59 2363 44.58 50.20 520.86 130.22
9 DJ McGlew 29 1152 44.31 25.82 510.38 127.59
10 EJ Barlow 35 1434 40.97 42.38 486.52 121.63

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 GC Smith 102 5279 54.99 57.21 750.55 750.55
2 JH Kallis 137 6254 53.91 44.17 694.36 694.36
3 AB de Villiers 82 3977 55.24 51.56 691.83 691.83
4 HM Amla 98 4147 46.60 48.40 659.32 659.32
5 G Kirsten 88 3905 48.21 42.71 649.78 649.78
6 EJ Barlow 22 1082 54.10 48.85 613.12 613.12
7 DJ Cullinan 56 2191 43.82 47.48 563.31 563.31
8 HH Gibbs 75 3112 42.63 45.88 562.81 562.81
9 DJ McGlew 35 1288 40.25 NK 523.24 523.24
10 Q de Kock 41 1373 35.21 67.64 494.12 494.12

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 JH Kallis 236 11231 55.33 46.36 762.64 190.66
2 GC Smith 170 7537 48.01 60.66 687.76 171.94
3 HM Amla 172 7423 46.39 52.04 678.66 169.67
4 AB de Villiers 155 7019 49.78 54.45 651.24 162.81
5 G Kirsten 153 6158 43.99 43.75 632.99 158.25
6 HH Gibbs 131 5532 44.61 50.96 616.12 154.03
7 Q de Kock 72 2921 44.26 71.75 599.77 149.94
8 DJ Cullinan 93 3787 45.63 49.36 576.86 144.21
9 EJ Barlow 57 2516 45.75 44.37 567.40 141.85
10 DJ McGlew 64 2440 42.07 25.71 529.04 132.26

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 36 1746 54.56 55.29 691.15 691.15
2 JH Kallis 44 2058 55.62 44.05 673.49 673.49
3 GC Smith 35 1728 49.37 57.09 654.67 654.67
4 HM Amla 43 1859 47.67 43.14 642.80 642.80
5 G Kirsten 23 1131 53.86 41.78 546.83 546.83
6 EJ Barlow 0 0 NA NA 500.00 500.00
6 DJ McGlew 0 0 NA NA 500.00 500.00
8 DJ Cullinan 22 767 38.35 46.48 435.01 435.01
9 HH Gibbs 23 635 27.61 44.91 339.60 339.60
10 Q de Kock 19 379 19.95 65.23 298.76 298.76

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 JH Kallis 694.36 187.86 673.49 190.66 1,746.37 174.64
2 GC Smith 750.55 143.16 654.67 171.94 1,720.32 172.03
3 AB de Villiers 691.83 155.55 691.15 162.81 1,701.34 170.13
4 HM Amla 659.32 158.82 642.80 169.67 1,630.60 163.06
5 G Kirsten 649.78 141.47 546.83 158.25 1,496.32 149.63
6 EJ Barlow 613.12 121.63 500.00 141.85 1,376.60 137.66
7 DJ McGlew 523.24 127.59 500.00 132.26 1,283.09 128.31
8 DJ Cullinan 563.31 130.22 435.01 144.21 1,272.75 127.28
9 HH Gibbs 562.81 139.04 339.60 154.03 1,195.48 119.55
10 Q de Kock 494.12 137.12 298.76 149.94 1,079.93 107.99

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 JH Kallis 30 2197 91.54 53.77 803.60 160.72
2 HH Gibbs 30 2042 75.63 60.47 781.81 156.36
3 AB de Villiers 30 2019 72.11 57.10 709.17 141.83
4 G Kirsten 30 1678 59.93 48.41 677.42 135.48
5 HM Amla 30 1753 62.61 54.59 665.58 133.12
6 GC Smith 30 1452 53.78 65.58 605.58 121.12
7 DJ Cullinan 30 1354 50.15 52.20 540.54 108.11
8 Q de Kock 30 1178 43.63 77.04 520.69 104.14
9 EJ Barlow 30 1290 43.00 43.29 496.13 99.23
10 DJ McGlew 29 1152 44.31 25.82 469.58 93.92

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 HM Amla 30 2042 81.68 54.22 879.54 703.63
2 AB de Villiers 30 1732 75.30 52.48 790.45 632.36
3 JH Kallis 30 1811 86.24 45.13 767.21 613.77
4 GC Smith 30 1634 56.34 57.07 720.32 576.26
5 G Kirsten 30 1575 58.33 47.73 685.58 548.47
6 HH Gibbs 30 1586 56.64 46.36 662.46 529.97
7 DJ Cullinan 30 1401 56.04 50.96 662.03 529.63
8 DJ McGlew 30 1229 45.52 NK 589.17 471.34
9 EJ Barlow 22 1082 54.10 48.85 578.82 463.06
10 Q de Kock 30 1045 36.03 66.73 498.94 399.15

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 JH Kallis 46 1773 44.33 44.51 784.67 392.33
2 AB de Villiers 31 1323 45.62 44.11 734.40 367.20
3 GC Smith 31 1136 42.07 56.10 655.78 327.89
4 DJ Cullinan 24 755 37.75 51.47 571.86 285.93
5 EJ Barlow 12 476 43.27 50.30 526.18 263.09
6 HH Gibbs 25 713 31.00 50.89 520.79 260.39
7 Q de Kock 16 545 34.06 60.76 518.95 259.47
8 HM Amla 34 1040 33.55 40.29 515.07 257.53
9 G Kirsten 32 738 26.36 42.12 480.54 240.27
10 DJ McGlew 11 333 33.30 NK 421.24 210.62

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 EJ Barlow 55 18 32.73 790.80 790.80
2 JH Kallis 240 74 30.83 760.73 760.73
3 AB de Villiers 173 54 31.21 731.68 731.68
4 GC Smith 192 56 29.17 720.76 720.76
5 HM Amla 199 57 28.64 718.54 718.54
6 Q de Kock 85 23 27.06 588.48 588.48
7 DJ Cullinan 103 28 27.18 581.09 581.09
8 G Kirsten 161 38 23.60 578.77 578.77
9 HH Gibbs 147 33 22.45 518.15 518.15
10 DJ McGlew 58 14 24.14 504.80 504.80

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 JH Kallis 160.72 613.77 392.33 760.73 1,927.55 192.76
2 AB de Villiers 141.83 632.36 367.20 731.68 1,873.08 187.31
3 HM Amla 133.12 703.63 257.53 718.54 1,812.82 181.28
4 GC Smith 121.12 576.26 327.89 720.76 1,746.03 174.60
5 EJ Barlow 99.23 463.06 263.09 790.80 1,616.18 161.62
6 DJ Cullinan 108.11 529.63 285.93 581.09 1,504.75 150.48
7 G Kirsten 135.48 548.47 240.27 578.77 1,502.99 150.30
8 HH Gibbs 156.36 529.97 260.39 518.15 1,464.87 146.49
9 Q de Kock 104.14 399.15 259.47 588.48 1,351.24 135.12
10 DJ McGlew 93.92 471.34 210.62 504.80 1,280.67 128.07

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 11 JH Kallis SA 391.26 174.64 192.76 758.65
2 23 AB de Villiers SA 353.73 170.13 187.31 711.18
3 25 GC Smith SA 359.11 172.03 174.60 705.75
4 26 HM Amla SA 352.32 163.06 181.28 696.66
5 45 G Kirsten SA 332.29 149.63 150.30 632.22
6 76 EJ Barlow SA 294.22 137.66 161.62 593.49
7 92 DJ Cullinan SA 296.22 127.28 150.48 573.97
8 96 HH Gibbs SA 304.22 119.55 146.49 570.26
9 128 DJ McGlew SA 277.84 128.31 128.07 534.21
10 134 Q de Kock SA 284.52 107.99 135.12 527.64

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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