The Greatest ODI Batsman Of All Time. Of All Time!

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Nichael Bluth in 40/50-over, Scorer's Notes

It’s well known that every silver lining has a cloud. What was good news for Hapoel Be’er Sheva Football Club turned out to be particularly bad news for us as, enraged by Southampton’s catastrophic failure in the Europa League, Editor Steve made it his business to make us suffer for his team’s complete lack of squad depth. For the first time since the great cooking experiment of 2014, we actually had to clean the office. Not only that, in order to then avoid a series of deliberate Gower-esque foot crushings, we had to promise our glorious leader that we’d write an article about absolutely anything that he wanted.

Of course we hoped that he’d ask for something light and fluffy, perhaps about how great Devereux is (very) or something about England’s ongoing spin travails in the subcontinent. But no, he had something else in mind: he wanted to know who the greatest ODI batsman in the history of the game was. And (as stressed by deliberately slamming the work experience boy’s head in the fridge door) he wanted to see our workings. In full.

As you can imagine, this was quite the challenge. Normally people talk about the greatest Test batsmen of all time and the traditional names just roll off the tongue: Bradman, Richards, Devereux, Voges, Hick and so on. But in ODIs? That’s much tougher. For a start, there are bloody hundreds of them going on every day and we’ll be damned if we can keep up.

Luckily Statsguru came to our rescue once again. We mashed a few buttons, drank a few gins and scratched our heads quite a lot. Then suddenly: Eureka! We had a methodology, one that goes a bit like this:

To be considered the greatest ODI batsmen, players need to perform over a reasonably long period of time. With the number of matches involved, ODI cricket is all about doing it time after time (after time). In order to take this account we decided to look at each year from 1983 onwards (when ODIs started to become common) and find the top ten batsmen for each year in terms of average. This gives us a very clumsy looking table like this:

Ranking	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
1st	IVA Richards (WI) 66.36	DL Haynes (WI) 54.20	CH Lloyd (WI) 73.60	RB Richardson (WI) 49.00	Javed Miandad (PAK) 67.75	CG Greenidge (WI) 60.15	DL Haynes (WI) 55.94	DM Jones (AUS) 69.05	SV Manjrekar (INDIA) 53.83	MD Crowe (NZ) 71.72	M Azharuddin (INDIA) 59.15	Ijaz Ahmed (PAK) 68.00	BC Lara (WI) 67.16	G Kirsten (SA) 57.68	CZ Harris (NZ) 68.14	MG Bevan (AUS) 68.50	L Klusener (SA) 94.88	AJ Stewart (ENG) 61.44	ME Waugh (AUS) 80.90	A Flower (ZIM) 59.72	MG Bevan (AUS) 65.33	JH Kallis (SA) 59.23	MEK Hussey (AUS) 146.75	NJ Astle (NZ) 58.60	RT Ponting (AUS) 79.11	S Chanderpaul (WI) 64.22	MS Dhoni (INDIA) 70.47	AB de Villiers (SA) 80.33	MS Dhoni (INDIA) 58.76	AB de Villiers (SA) 107.50	GJ Bailey (AUS) 64.58	AB de Villiers (SA) 73.25	KC Sangakkara (SL) 86.20	V Kohli (INDIA) 92.37
2nd	DI Gower (ENG) 63.88	IVA Richards (WI) 53.46	IVA Richards (WI) 61.55	Javed Miandad (PAK) 48.61	GA Gooch (ENG) 56.00	Javed Miandad (PAK) 55.18	GR Marsh (AUS) 54.53	M Azharuddin (INDIA) 65.25	GR Marsh (AUS) 46.61	Javed Miandad (PAK) 52.33	RA Smith (ENG) 52.10	CL Hooper (WI) 64.12	Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) 49.92	BC Lara (WI) 57.66	SC Williams (WI) 62.60	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 65.31	MG Bevan (AUS) 67.78	DR Martyn (AUS) 59.11	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 69.53	RR Sarwan (WI) 58.53	DR Martyn (AUS) 58.53	A Flintoff (ENG) 57.54	KP Pietersen (ENG) 65.33	MEK Hussey (AUS) 56.00	S Chanderpaul (WI) 76.00	JP Duminy (SA) 59.50	S Chanderpaul (WI) 59.00	HM Amla (SA) 75.57	SR Watson (AUS) 56.95	V Kohli (INDIA) 68.40	KC Sangakkara (SL) 63.21	KS Williamson (NZ) 70.00	AB de Villiers (SA) 79.53	DA Warner (AUS) 63.09
3rd	Zaheer Abbas (PAK) 61.75	AL Logie (WI) 49.60	SM Gavaskar (INDIA) 59.14	DL Haynes (WI) 46.22	DC Boon (AUS) 50.46	DM Jones (AUS) 53.63	DM Jones (AUS) 51.14	A Ranatunga (SL) 56.50	DM Jones (AUS) 39.33	RA Smith (ENG) 51.16	Saeed Anwar (PAK) 51.71	MG Bevan (AUS) 54.00	CL Hooper (WI) 41.40	DJ Cullinan (SA) 57.44	MG Bevan (AUS) 56.00	NV Knight (ENG) 55.08	RG Twose (NZ) 48.41	SC Ganguly (INDIA) 56.39	DR Martyn (AUS) 69.50	DS Lehmann (AUS) 57.77	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 57.05	RR Sarwan (WI) 56.50	Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) 54.62	Yuvraj Singh (INDIA) 53.06	A Symonds (AUS) 62.15	Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) 59.20	TM Dilshan (SL) 55.55	TLW Cooper (Neth) 65.44	MJ Clarke (AUS) 56.25	MS Dhoni (INDIA) 65.50	MS Dhoni (INDIA) 62.75	LRPL Taylor (NZ) 66.20	Shoaib Malik (PAK) 67.44	RG Sharma (INDIA) 62.66
4th	CG Greenidge (WI) 57.61	KC Wessels (AUS/SA) 47.17	DL Haynes (WI) 56.00	DM Jones (AUS) 40.00	IVA Richards (WI) 49.44	M Amarnath (INDIA) 53.09	Imran Khan (PAK) 46.64	Rameez Raja (PAK) 52.87	DL Haynes (WI) 36.66	NH Fairbrother (ENG) 50.60	JC Adams (WI) 51.60	AC Parore (NZ) 52.00	HP Tillakaratne (SL) 41.00	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 53.70	PA de Silva (SL) 52.69	Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) 53.22	GA Hick (ENG) 46.70	RG Twose (NZ) 56.15	HH Dippenaar (SA) 68.00	ML Hayden (AUS) 54.87	JH Kallis (SA) 54.09	KC Sangakkara (SL) 53.15	MJ Clarke (AUS) 53.00	ST Jayasuriya (SL) 48.04	RN ten Doeschate (Neth) 59.33	MS Dhoni (INDIA) 57.73	AB de Villiers (SA) 54.42	JP Duminy (SA) 61.85	RG Sharma (INDIA) 55.54	EJG Morgan (ENG/IRE) 60.66	IJL Trott (ENG) 61.10	AD Mathews (SL) 62.20	F du Plessis (SA) 58.93	AD Hales (ENG) 61.91
5th	HA Gomes (WI) 57.16	MD Crowe (NZ) 41.60	AR Border (AUS) 51.87	SM Gavaskar (INDIA) 38.33	SM Gavaskar (INDIA) 49.00	DL Haynes (WI) 49.73	PA de Silva (SL) 44.10	PL Taylor (AUS) 47.33	RB Richardson (WI) 36.55	DC Boon (AUS) 46.94	KLT Arthurton (WI) 51.22	MA Atherton (ENG) 51.77	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 40.36	RB Richardson (WI) 51.57	ME Waugh (AUS) 52.00	RT Ponting (AUS) 53.00	SC Ganguly (INDIA) 46.50	MS Atapattu (SL) 55.41	MG Bevan (AUS) 64.55	Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) 54.48	DS Lehmann (AUS) 51.88	HH Streak (ZIM) 52.83	HH Gibbs (SA) 51.85	Shakib Al Hasan (BDESH) 45.12	ML Hayden (AUS) 59.29	MEK Hussey (AUS) 56.54	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 54.00	A Bagai (Can) 59.88	MJ Guptill (NZ) 54.16	IR Bell (ENG) 54.90	TM Dilshan (SL) 61.05	RA Jadeja (INDIA) 61.50	LRPL Taylor (NZ) 58.11	JE Root (ENG) 61.23
6th	GN Yallop (AUS) 56.57	SB Smith (AUS) 40.33	Javed Miandad (PAK) 45.06	SR Waugh (AUS) 36.71	DB Vengsarkar (INDIA) 47.53	AH Jones (NZ) 44.77	RB Richardson (WI) 42.78	GA Gooch (ENG) 44.55	DC Boon (AUS) 36.22	A Ranatunga (SL) 45.00	Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) 50.50	VG Kambli (INDIA) 51.14	MA Taylor (AUS) 40.23	Saeed Anwar (PAK) 51.45	WJ Cronje (SA) 51.40	JN Rhodes (SA) 49.66	R Dravid (INDIA) 46.34	WJ Cronje (SA) 47.33	ND McKenzie (SA) 63.00	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 52.92	CH Gayle (WI) 51.63	A Symonds (AUS) 50.18	MS Dhoni (INDIA) 49.72	SO Tikolo (KENYA) 45.00	JH Kallis (SA) 58.05	JH Kallis (SA) 55.70	Shakib Al Hasan (BDESH) 51.61	JH Kallis (SA) 59.30	V Sehwag (INDIA) 53.75	AN Cook (ENG) 47.35	Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) 54.92	V Kohli (INDIA) 58.55	KS Williamson (NZ) 57.33	LD Chandimal (SL) 59.63
7th	RM Hogg (AUS) 42.00	AJ Lamb (ENG) 37.66	GM Wood (AUS) 43.07	A Ranatunga (SL) 36.00	DM Jones (AUS) 46.85	PV Simmons (WI) 44.40	Saleem Malik (PAK) 42.31	MD Crowe (NZ) 42.63	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 34.75	PN Kirsten (SA) 44.80	BC Lara (WI) 49.96	A Ranatunga (SL) 49.41	ME Waugh (AUS) 39.00	PA de Silva (SL) 49.50	ST Jayasuriya (SL) 51.21	A Jadeja (INDIA) 47.80	Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) 46.08	JH Kallis (SA) 44.82	NV Knight (ENG) 58.00	CH Gayle (WI) 49.86	Yasir Hameed (PAK) 49.88	SP Fleming (NZ) 48.47	GC Smith (SA) 49.20	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 44.85	SB Styris (NZ) 56.53	GC Smith (SA) 54.66	SR Watson (AUS) 50.65	AJ Strauss (ENG) 57.57	Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) 53.55	MJ Clarke (AUS) 46.85	V Kohli (INDIA) 52.83	D Ramdin (WI) 57.33	IR Bell (ENG) 56.55	Babar Azam (PAK) 59.63
8th	AJ Lamb (ENG) 40.50	RW Marsh (AUS) 35.25	DM Jones (AUS) 42.50	DC Boon (AUS) 34.90	AJ Lamb (ENG) 45.21	NS Sidhu (INDIA) 42.09	AL Logie (WI) 41.00	Imran Khan (PAK) 41.33	SR Waugh (AUS) 31.00	RS Mahanama (SL) 43.38	Basit Ali (PAK) 47.10	NS Sidhu (INDIA) 49.16	Rameez Raja (PAK) 38.00	GP Thorpe (ENG) 47.57	GP Thorpe (ENG) 51.00	JH Kallis (SA) 45.11	RP Arnold (SL) 45.90	G Kirsten (SA) 44.45	JH Kallis (SA) 56.53	JN Rhodes (SA) 48.45	HH Dippenaar (SA) 47.90	AC Gilchrist (AUS) 43.95	R Dravid (INDIA) 47.47	KC Sangakkara (SL) 44.43	TM Odoyo (KENYA) 54.00	Younis Khan (PAK) 54.06	PD Collingwood (ENG) 50.35	G Gambhir (INDIA) 55.83	IJL Trott (ENG) 52.60	Azhar Ali (PAK) 45.66	RG Sharma (INDIA) 52.00	F du Plessis (SA) 52.66	MJ Guptill (NZ) 55.14	JC Buttler (ENG) 57.30
9th	N Kapil Dev (INDIA) 37.64	CH Lloyd (WI) 33.60	DB Vengsarkar (INDIA) 39.27	GR Marsh (AUS) 34.47	Saleem Malik (PAK) 44.38	CL Hooper (WI) 40.75	Shoaib Mohammad (PAK) 38.05	GR Marsh (AUS) 39.00	AR Border (AUS) 29.90	PV Simmons (WI) 42.45	Asif Mujtaba (PAK) 46.61	SR Tendulkar (INDIA) 47.34	SP Fleming (NZ) 36.71	MG Bevan (AUS) 47.50	BC Lara (WI) 50.33	A Ranatunga (SL) 44.22	HH Streak (ZIM) 45.33	RP Arnold (SL) 44.16	RT Ponting (AUS) 55.20	R Dravid (INDIA) 48.05	BC Lara (WI) 46.73	Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) 43.38	DR Martyn (AUS) 47.35	WU Tharanga (SL) 44.25	SR Watson (AUS) 53.40	Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) 53.83	MEK Hussey (AUS) 48.58	MJ Clarke (AUS) 55.50	AB de Villiers (SA) 51.88	KC Sangakkara (SL) 43.85	MJ Guptill (NZ) 50.75	RG Sharma (INDIA) 52.54	DA Warner (AUS) 54.33	Q de Kock (SA) 57.13
10th	DL Haynes (WI) 37.14	RB Richardson (WI) 31.83	AL Logie (WI) 38.46	DB Vengsarkar (INDIA) 34.07	BC Broad (ENG) 40.26	DC Boon (AUS) 38.80	CG Greenidge (WI) 36.27	AR Border (AUS) 38.57	AL Logie (WI) 26.27	BC Lara (WI) 41.78	ME Waugh (AUS) 43.82	DC Boon (AUS) 46.65	RS Mahanama (SL) 36.16	ME Waugh (AUS) 46.04	CL Hooper (WI) 48.84	MS Atapattu (SL) 43.76	NH Fairbrother (ENG) 45.18	MG Bevan (AUS) 44.05	JN Rhodes (SA) 53.70	CL Hooper (WI) 46.90	RT Ponting (AUS) 46.16	Abdul Razzaq (PAK) 42.66	RT Ponting (AUS) 45.80	RR Sarwan (WI) 43.77	Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) 52.10	CH Gayle (WI) 52.66	EJG Morgan (ENG/IRE) 46.09	Abdul Razzaq (PAK) 55.16	KC Sangakkara (SL) 51.22	G Gambhir (INDIA) 42.81	AB de Villiers (SA) 50.56	HM Amla (SA) 52.47	SPD Smith (AUS) 53.66	Sarfraz Ahmed (PAK) 54.66

In order to turn this into something useful, we need a scoring system. So we’ll give the top batsman in a year ten points, second place nine and so on. Then we can just add up the points, declare a winner and then sneak off to the pub, our feet very much still intact.

This gives us a far more useful (and readable) table, one that looks like this:

Ranking	Name	Points	Appearances in top ten	Best year(s)	Best position
1st	SR Tendulkar (INDIA)	60	10	1998 & 2001	2nd
2nd	MG Bevan (AUS)	54	8	1998 & 2003	1st
3rd=	DL Haynes (WI)	49	7	1984 & 1989	1st
3rd=	AB de Villiers (SA)	49	7	2012, 2012 & 2014	1st
5th=	MS Dhoni (INDIA)	48	6	2009 & 2011	1st
5th=	DM Jones (AUS)	48	7	1990	1st
7th=	Javed Miandad (PAK)	42	5	1987	1st
7th=	JH Kallis (SA)	42	8	2004	1st
9th	IVA Richards (WI)	35	4	1983	1st
10th	KC Sangakkara (SL)	32	6	2015	1st
11th=	V Kohli (INDIA)	28	4	2016	1st
11th=	RB Richardson (WI)	28	5	1986	1st
11th=	Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK)	28	5	1995	2nd
11th=	BC Lara (WI)	28	6	1995	1st
11th=	DR Martyn (AUS)	28	4	2000 & 2003	2nd
11th=	S Chanderpaul (WI)	28	3	2008	1st
17th	MEK Hussey (AUS)	27	4	2005	1st
18th	DC Boon (AUS)	24	6	1987	3rd
19th	A Ranatunga (SL)	23	5	1990	3rd
20th=	Mohammad Yousuf (PAK)	22	4	2008	3rd
20th=	GR Marsh (AUS)	22	4	1989 & 1991	2nd
20th=	ME Waugh (AUS)	22	5	2001	1st
23rd=	MJ Clarke (AUS)	21	4	2011	3rd
23rd=	CL Hooper (WI)	21	5	1994	2nd
25th=	SM Gavaskar (INDIA)	20	3	1985	3rd
25th=	RG Sharma (INDIA)	20	4	2016	3rd
25th=	RT Ponting (AUS)	20	5	2007	1st
25th=	MD Crowe (NZ)	20	3	1992	1st
29th	M Azharuddin (INDIA)	19	2	1993	1st
30th=	CG Greenidge (WI)	18	3	1988	1st
30th=	RR Sarwan (WI)	18	3	2002	2nd
32nd=	RA Smith (ENG)	17	2	1993	2nd
32nd=	PA de Silva (SL)	17	3	1997	4th
34th	JP Duminy (SA)	16	2	2008	2nd
35th=	SR Watson (AUS)	15	3	2011	2nd
35th=	RG Twose (NZ)	15	2	1999	3rd
37th=	TM Dilshan (SL)	14	2	2009	3rd
37th=	DS Lehmann (AUS)	14	2	2002	3rd
37th=	GA Gooch (ENG)	14	2	1987	2nd
37th=	SC Ganguly (INDIA)	14	2	2000	3rd
37th=	KS Williamson (NZ)	14	2	2014	2nd
37th=	LRPL Taylor (NZ)	14	2	2014	3rd
43rd=	Saeed Anwar (PAK)	13	2	1993	3rd
43rd=	ML Hayden (AUS)	13	2	2002	4th
43rd=	AL Logie (WI)	13	4	1984	3rd
43rd=	G Kirsten (SA)	13	2	1996	1st
43rd=	A Symonds (AUS)	13	2	2007	3rd
48th=	NV Knight (ENG)	12	2	1998	3rd
48th=	CH Lloyd (WI)	12	2	1985	1st
50th=	ST Jayasuriya (SL)	11	2	2006	4th
50th=	MJ Guptill (NZ)	11	3	2011	5th
50th=	Shakib Al Hasan (BDESH)	11	2	2006	5th
50th=	Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK)	11	3	2013	6th
50th=	DA Warner (AUS)	11	2	2016	2nd
55th=	WJ Cronje (SA)	10	2	1997 & 2000	6th
55th=	SV Manjrekar (INDIA)	10	1	1991	1st
55th=	F du Plessis (SA)	10	2	2015	4th
55th=	IJL Trott (ENG)	10	2	2013	4th
55th=	Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)	10	1	1994	1st
55th=	L Klusener (SA)	10	1	1999	1st
55th=	AJ Stewart (ENG)	10	1	2000	1st
55th=	GJ Bailey (AUS)	10	1	2013	1st
55th=	R Dravid (INDIA)	10	3	1999	6th
55th=	CH Gayle (WI)	10	3	2003	6th
55th=	Rameez Raja (PAK)	10	2	1990	4th
55th=	A Flower (ZIM)	10	1	2002	1st
55th=	Imran Khan (PAK)	10	2	1989	4th
55th=	HH Dippenaar (SA)	10	2	2001	4th
55th=	IR Bell (ENG)	10	2	2012	5th
55th=	AJ Lamb (ENG)	10	3	1984	7th
55th=	CZ Harris (NZ)	10	1	1997	1st
55th=	HM Amla (SA)	10	2	2010	2nd
55th=	NJ Astle (NZ)	10	1	2006	1st
74th=	AR Border (AUS)	9	3	1985	5th
74th=	KP Pietersen (ENG)	9	1	2005	2nd
74th=	SC Williams (WI)	9	1	1997	2nd
74th=	JN Rhodes (SA)	9	3	1998	6th
74th=	DI Gower (ENG)	9	1	1983	2nd
74th=	A Flintoff (ENG)	9	1	2004	2nd
80th=	Yuvraj Singh (INDIA)	8	1	2006	3rd
80th=	Zaheer Abbas (PAK)	8	1	1983	3rd
80th=	SR Waugh (AUS)	8	2	1986	6th
80th=	TLW Cooper (Neth)	8	1	2010	3rd
80th=	GC Smith (SA)	8	2	2005 & 2008	7th
80th=	Shoaib Malik (PAK)	8	1	2015	3rd
80th=	DJ Cullinan (SA)	8	1	1996	3rd
80th=	HH Streak (ZIM)	8	2	2004	5th
80th=	EJG Morgan (ENG/IRE)	8	2	2012	4th
80th=	NH Fairbrother (ENG)	8	2	1992	4th
80th=	DB Vengsarkar (INDIA)	8	3	1987	6th
91st=	KC Wessels (AUS/SA)	7	1	1984	4th
91st=	JC Adams (WI)	7	1	1993	4th
91st=	GA Hick (ENG)	7	1	1999	4th
91st=	RN ten Doeschate (Neth)	7	1	2007	4th
91st=	HP Tillakaratne (SL)	7	1	1995	4th
91st=	AC Parore (NZ)	7	1	1994	4th
91st=	AD Hales (ENG)	7	1	2016	4th
91st=	AD Mathews (SL)	7	1	2014	4th
91st=	M Amarnath (INDIA)	7	1	1988	4th
91st=	MS Atapattu (SL)	7	2	2000	5th
101st=	SP Fleming (NZ)	6	2	2004	7th
101st=	Saleem Malik (PAK)	6	2	1989	7th
101st=	KLT Arthurton (WI)	6	1	1993	5th
101st=	JE Root (ENG)	6	1	2016	5th
101st=	MA Atherton (ENG)	6	1	1994	5th
101st=	HH Gibbs (SA)	6	1	2005	5th
101st=	PL Taylor (AUS)	6	1	1990	5th
101st=	GP Thorpe (ENG)	6	2	1996 & 1997	8th
101st=	HA Gomes (WI)	6	1	1983	5th
101st=	PV Simmons (WI)	6	2	1988	7th
101st=	RA Jadeja (INDIA)	6	1	2014	5th
101st=	NS Sidhu (INDIA)	6	2	1988 & 1994	8th
101st=	A Bagai (Can)	6	1	2010	5th
114th=	V Sehwag (INDIA)	5	1	2011	6th
114th=	VG Kambli (INDIA)	5	1	1994	6th
114th=	SO Tikolo (KENYA)	5	1	2006	6th
114th=	SB Smith (AUS)	5	1	1984	6th
114th=	AH Jones (NZ)	5	1	1988	6th
114th=	ND McKenzie (SA)	5	1	2001	6th
114th=	AN Cook (ENG)	5	1	2012	6th
114th=	RP Arnold (SL)	5	2	1999	8th
114th=	GN Yallop (AUS)	5	1	1983	6th
114th=	LD Chandimal (SL)	5	1	2016	6th
114th=	MA Taylor (AUS)	5	1	1995	6th
125th=	Yasir Hameed (PAK)	4	1	2003	7th
125th=	PN Kirsten (SA)	4	1	1992	7th
125th=	SB Styris (NZ)	4	1	2007	7th
125th=	RS Mahanama (SL)	4	2	1992	8th
125th=	AJ Strauss (ENG)	4	1	2010	7th
125th=	D Ramdin (WI)	4	1	2014	7th
125th=	G Gambhir (INDIA)	4	2	2010	8th
125th=	RM Hogg (AUS)	4	1	1983	7th
125th=	GM Wood (AUS)	4	1	1985	7th
125th=	A Jadeja (INDIA)	4	1	1998	7th
125th=	Babar Azam (PAK)	4	1	2016	7th
136th=	Younis Khan (PAK)	3	1	2008	8th
136th=	TM Odoyo (KENYA)	3	1	2007	8th
136th=	Basit Ali (PAK)	3	1	1993	8th
136th=	RW Marsh (AUS)	3	1	1984	8th
136th=	Azhar Ali (PAK)	3	1	2012	8th
136th=	JC Buttler (ENG)	3	1	2016	8th
136th=	AC Gilchrist (AUS)	3	1	2004	8th
136th=	PD Collingwood (ENG)	3	1	2009	8th
144th=	WU Tharanga (SL)	2	1	2006	9th
144th=	Asif Mujtaba (PAK)	2	1	1993	9th
144th=	Abdul Razzaq (PAK)	2	2	2004 & 2010	10th
144th=	Q de Kock (SA)	2	1	2016	9th
144th=	N Kapil Dev (INDIA)	2	1	1983	9th
144th=	Shoaib Mohammad (PAK)	2	1	1989	9th
150th=	SPD Smith (AUS)	1	1	2015	10th
150th=	Sarfraz Ahmed (PAK)	1	1	2016	10th
150th=	BC Broad (ENG)	1	1	1987	10th

We must admit, we were a little surprised to see Sachin Tendulkar at the top, mainly because after five years of this site we’re extremely used to pointing out he was massively overrated. Yeah, that’s right: we went there again. But in ODI cricket it’s probably a fair call – he featured in the top ten batsmen of the year on no less than ten separate occasions between 1991 and 2009, although never higher than second place. But it was second placed overall Michael Bevan that really piqued our interest. Bevan made eight top-ten appearances in the ten years between 1994 and 2003, topping the list in 1998 and 2003. He also invented the idea of scoring lots of runs at the end of an innings.

Joint-third placed Desmond Haynes was a bit of a surprise result, mainly because he retired before a few of us were even born. But apparently he dominated in the early years of ODI cricket, making the top ten seven times in the first nine years, topping the chart in 1984 and 1989. AB de Villiers was less of a surprise, and is one of those with the potential to move up the list over the next couple of years, injuries permitting.

Perhaps the least surprising thing on the list (after Devereux’s absurdly low placing) is the lack of English batsmen – you’ll need to press the ‘next’ button three times before you actually get to one: Robin Smith, who played his last ODI in 1996. It’s a damning indictment of decades of utter rubbishness in limited overs cricket. Although things are better now, it’ll be a fair while before this methodology sees any English players storming to the top of the charts. Luckily we’ve pencilled in doing a follow up article next time Southampton are in Europe (i.e. somewhere around 2030).

As a side note, once we’d actually sat around and done all the spreadsheet magic to make this happen, we remembered that Reliance do an all time ODI ranking list themselves and we could have just stolen their work and hoped Editor Steve didn’t notice in his current drunken state. Their list can be found here and is surprisingly different from ours, with only four players from this century in the top 20 (and one of them is George Bailey). Far be it from us to criticise other people’s work* but that just seems plain wrong.

 

*although that is the exact purpose of this website.