Retired Players

Rank	Batsman	Tests	Innings	not out	Runs	Highest	Ave	Years playing
1	D.G. Bradman Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...	52	80	10	6996	334	99.94	1928-1948
2	R.G. Pollock Graeme Pollock Robert Graeme Pollock, known as Graeme, is a former cricketer. He played in 23 Test matches for South Africa and represented Transvaal and Eastern Province at domestic level....	23	41	4	2256	274	60.97	1963–1970
3	G.A. Headley George Headley George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...	22	40	4	2190	270*	60.83	1930–1954
4	H. Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...	54	84	9	4555	194	60.73	1924–1935
5	E. Paynter Eddie Paynter Edward "Eddie" Paynter was an English cricketer: an attacking batsman and excellent fielder. His Test batting average of 59.23 is the fifth highest of all time, and second only to Herbert Sutcliffe amongst Englishmen; against Australia alone Paynter averaged an extraordinary 84.42.Born in...	20	31	5	1540	243	59.23	1931–1939
6	K.F. Barrington Ken Barrington Kenneth Frank Barrington , better known as Ken Barrington, played for the English cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, well known for his jovial good humour and long, defensive innings "batting with bulldog...	82	131	15	6806	256	58.67	1955–1968
7	E.D. Weekes Everton Weekes Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...	48	81	5	4455	207	58.61	1948–1958
8	W.R. Hammond Wally Hammond Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...	85	140	16	7249	336*	58.45	1927–1947
9	G.S. Sobers Garfield Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers AO, OCC is a former cricketer who captained West Indies. His first name of Garfield is variously abbreviated as Gary or Garry. He is widely regarded as one of cricket's greatest ever all-rounders, having excelled at all the essential skills of batting, bowling and...	93	160	21	8032	365*	57.78	1954–1974
10	J.B. Hobbs Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....	61	102	7	5410	211	56.94	1908–1930
11	C.L. Walcott Clyde Walcott Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott, KA, GCM was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from Barbados, born within a short distance of each other in Bridgetown, Barbados in a period of 18...	44	74	7	3798	220	56.68	1948–1960
12	L. Hutton Len Hutton Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...	79	138	15	6971	364	56.67	1937–1955
13	G.E. Tyldesley Ernest Tyldesley Ernest Tyldesley was an England cricketer. The younger brother of Johnny Tyldesley and the leading batsman for Lancashire. He remains Lancashire's most prolific run-getter of all time...	14	20	2	990	122	55.00	1921–1929
14	C.A. Davis	15	29	5	1301	183	54.20	1968–1973
15	V.G. Kambli Vinod Kambli Vinod Ganpat Kambli is a former Indian cricketer, who played for India as a middle order batsman, as well as for Mumbai and Boland, South Africa.He is childhood friend of ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar...	17	21	1	1084	227	54.20	1993–1995
16	G.S. Chappell Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...	87	151	19	7110	247*	53.86	1970–1984
17	A.D. Nourse Dudley Nourse Arthur Dudley Nourse was a South African Test cricketer and batsmanThe son of batsman Arthur Nourse, Nourse played 34 Test matches in a long career of sixteen years...	34	62	7	2960	231	53.81	1935–1951
18	B.C. Lara Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...	131	232	6	11953	400*	52.88	1990–2006
19	Javed Miandad Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad Khan , popularly known as Javed Miandad , is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1975 and 1996. He is Pakistan's leading run scorer in Test cricket. He has served as a captain of the Pakistan national cricket team...	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	1976–1993
20	J. Ryder	20	32	5	1394	201*	51.62	1920–1929

* denotes not out

Note - If the 20 innings qualification is removed, the highest career batting average list is topped by Andy Ganteaume

Andy Ganteaume

Andrew Gordon Ganteaume is a West Indian former cricketer who played as an opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago...

, who scored 112 in his only Test innings.

Top 10 active Test batsmen

Rank	Batsman	Tests	Inns	n.o.	Runs	Highest	Ave	100s	50s	Date of debut
1	I.J.L. Trott Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...	19	31	4	1803	226	66.77	5	5	20 Aug 2009
2	J.H. Kallis Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...	145	246	35	11947	201*	57.44	40	53	14 Dec 1995
3	K.C Sangakkara Kumar Sangakkara Kumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan, Sinhalese cricketer and the former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman...	91	152	11	8245	287	57.26	23	33	20 July 2000
4	S.R. Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...	182	290	30	15048	248*	56.95	51	61	15 Nov 1989
5	T.T Samaraweera Thilan Samaraweera Thilan Thusara Samaraweera is a Sri Lankan cricketer, born September 22, 1976 in Colombo. Samaraweera plays international cricket for Sri Lanka and is in the side primarily for his solid right-handed batting but is also a capable Off spinner.-Personal life:...	60	95	16	4395	231	54.26	12	25	29 Aug 2001
6	D.P.M.D Jayawardene Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene , known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s...	113	187	13	9521	374	53.79	28	36	2 Aug 1997
7	R.T. Ponting Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...	148	251	27	12363	257	53.52	39	55	8 Dec 1995
8	V Sehwag	81	139	5	7152	319	53.37	21	23	3 Nov 2001
9	R.S Dravid Rahul Dravid Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...	158	249	35	13000	270	53.01	36	61	2 Aug 1996
10	Mohammad Yousuf	89	154	12	7520	223	52.95	24	33	26 Feb 1998
Source: Cricinfo. Last updated: 13 October 2010. By Sathia G

* denotes not out

There are some striking differences between the two groups:

• English and West Indian players are prominent in the retired list.
• The top retired players have played significantly fewer Tests than the top active players. The retired players who have played in a number of Tests comparable to today's top active players generally had very long Test careers (for example, Garry Sobers' Test career spanned 20 years).

However, at the same time, an equally striking similarity can be seen:

• Apart from Bradman, the two lists cluster around very similar averages, with the retired batsmen being slightly higher than the active ones.

The rise in number of test matches also appears to accentuate the advantage of playing on what might be regarded as "batsman friendly pitches". Two of the newer test playing nations come from the Indian subcontinent (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) while the other one is African (Zimbabwe). With the exception of Ponting, Kallis and Trott, the other batsman who are active play their home games in the Indian sub-continent. Similarly the players listed as retired would have played in an era when tours to the sub-continent were infrequent and their innings would have predominantly taken place on more neutral or bowler friendly wickets, particularly prior to the introduction of covered wickets.

It's remarkable that throughout one hundred and thirty years batting averages for tests have remained comparable even allowing for differences in the number of tests played, but for players active in the last fifteen years this particular disparity is becoming more apparent.

Top 10 active ODI batsmen

Rank	Batsman	ODIs	Inns	n.o.	Runs	Highest	Ave	S.R.	100s	50s	Debut
1	L.D.Chandimal Dinesh Chandimal Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal is a Sri Lankan international cricketer who has played first class cricket for Ruhuna and Nondescripts Cricket Club. A right-hand batsman and wicket-keeper, he scored 64, four and 109 in his first three innings for the Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI...	6	6	3	253	111	84.33	84.05	2	0	1 June 2010
2	H.M.Amla Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla is a South African cricketer. A right-handed upper order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler, Amla bats at number 3 for South Africa in Test matches and has opened in limited overs contests. He is currently ranked as the No...	42	41	5	2156	140	59.88	93.53	7	12	9 Mar 2008
3	I.J.L. Trott Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...	25	25	???	1280	137	55.65	77.76	3	11	August 27 2009
4	M.E.K.Hussey Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...	146	121	38	4287	109*	51.65	88.48	2	31	1 Feb 2004
5	M.S.Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team. He made his One Day International debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and a year later played his first Test, this time against Sri Lanka.Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC...	170	151	39	5666	183*	50.58	89.21	7	36	23 Dec 2004
6	V Kohli Virat Kohli Virat Kohli ,born 5 November 1988 in Delhi) is an Indian international cricketer. He is a middle order batsman, who can also open the batting. He can also bowl right arm medium pace. Kohli was the captain of the victorious Indian team at the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia...	45	41	6	1670	118	47.71	82.26	4	12	19 Aug 2008
7	C Ferguson Callum Ferguson Callum James Ferguson is an Australian cricketer who currently plays Australian Domestic cricket for South Australia.He represented Australia at Under 19 level and debuted for the Australia one-day side in 2009...	26	22	9	599	71*	46.07	85.08	0	5	06 Feb 2009
8	J.H. Kallis Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...	303	289	52	10838	139	45.72	72.72	17	78	9 Jan 1996
9	S.R.Tendulkar	453	442	41	18111	200*	45.12	86.26	48	95	18 Dec 1989
10	R.R. Sarwan	156	146	30	5098	115*	43.94	77.52	4	33	20 July 2000
Source: Cricinfo. Last updated: 30 May 2011.

* denotes not out

Career One Day International average leaders

The first ODI was on 5 January 1971, but it was a year or two before the genre took off elsewhere than England.

Current as of 11 April 2009 — Qualification = 20 innings — (2,839 ODIs – Source Cricinfo Statsguru).

Top 10 retired ODI batsmen

Rank	Batsman	ODIs	Inns	n.o.	Runs	Highest	Ave	S.R.	Career dates
1	M.G. Bevan Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup...	232	196	67	6912	108*	53.58	74.16	1994–2004
2	Zaheer Abbas Zaheer Abbas Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani , popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer, regarded as one of the finest batsman produced by that country. He is widely known as the "Asian Bradman", a reference to former Australian great Sir Donald Bradman...	62	60	6	2572	123	47.62	84.80	1974–1985
3	I.V.A. Richards Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...	187	167	24	6721	189*	47.00	90.20	1975–1991
4	G.M. Turner Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....	41	40	6	1598	171*	47.00	68.05	1973–1983
5	C.G. Greenidge Gordon Greenidge Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge MBE is a former member of the West Indies cricket team.Greenidge was an opening batsman for the West Indies. He began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 1974 and continued playing internationally until 1991. He was half of the West...	128	127	13	5134	133*	45.03	64.92	1975–1991
6	D.M. Jones Dean Jones (cricketer) Dean Mervyn Jones AM is a retired Australian cricketer, and is presently a coach. He also worked as a media commentator.-Career:...	164	161	25	6068	145	44.61	72.56	1984–1994
7	M.L. Hayden Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...  †	161	155	15	6133	181*	43.80	78.96	1993–2008
8	H.H. Dippenaar Boeta Dippenaar Hendrik Human Dippenaar , known as Boeta Dippenaar, is a cricketer who has played Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa and the ACA African XI. He has played as a specialist batsman in most of his matches, and has played Test cricket in all batting positions from one through seven...	107	95	14	3421	125*	42.23	67.78	1999–2007
9	Javed Miandad Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad Khan , popularly known as Javed Miandad , is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1975 and 1996. He is Pakistan's leading run scorer in Test cricket. He has served as a captain of the Pakistan national cricket team...	233	218	41	7381	119*	41.70	67.01	1975–1996
10	D.L. Haynes Desmond Haynes Desmond Leo Haynes is a West Indian cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of...	238	237	28	8648	152*	41.37	63.09	1978–1994

* denotes not out

† played for World XI

S.R. = strike rate

External links

• List of batsmen who have scored over 10000 One Day International cricket runs
• Test averages at Cricinfo
• ODI averages at Cricinfo