5 greatest Test cricket openers of the modern era

#2 Alastair Cook

One of the greatest English openers in Test cricket

He was at a tender age of 22 when he made his test debut in India in the year 2006 and made a mark right away in that series by scoring a century in his debut. He had his breakthrough moment in the Ashes 2010-11 where he scored an incredible 766 runs in just 7 innings. Further, in 2012 he led England to a fantastic series win against India on their own turf.

He broke several long-standing English records in his illustrious career before calling it quits in the recent 2018 home test series against India. He will be finishing his long career as he represented England in 161 test matches, scoring more than 12300 runs at an impressive average of 45. Bowlers around the world will breathe a sigh of relief as Alistair Cook calls the curtain on his time in cricket as a player.

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#1 Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden

A legendary batsman in the mold of Virender Sehwag who could take the game away from the opposition single-handedly in a blink of an eye. He held the world record for highest test individual score of 380 in before it was eclipsed by the great Brian Lara. He did not show any sort of mercy to either pace bowlers or spinners as he won test matches for Australia year after year.

Matthew Hayden is one of the few players in history who have recorded more hundreds than the fifties, a feat not accomplished by many. This speaks volumes about his conversion rate. He was one of the lynchpins of the great Australian team which won everything left right and center. Along with stellar openers like Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer, he made the Australian middle order's job easy by giving strong starts. The lanky Australian played 103 test matches and scored over 8600 runs at a swashbuckling average of over 50.