5 players with the highest batting average in Test cricket

As the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) draws closer, the Test format has taken centrestage in international cricket. With England and New Zealand facing off in a two-match Test series and Joe Root's side scheduled to face India after the WTC final, there is no shortage of top-level red-ball cricket.

Batting is undoubtedly the toughest in Test cricket, where lax time restrictions and attacking fields against the red cherry make it a sporting challenge unlike any other. Many world-class batsmen have stamped their imprint on a format that is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the sport.

Here are the five batsmen with the highest career Test batting averages. Note: Conditions levied are a minimum of 20 Tests and 1,000 runs.

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#5 George Headley - 60.83

George Headley

Nicknamed 'The Black Bradman', Jamaican legend George Headley played only 22 Tests in a war-interrupted career. He amassed 2,190 runs in these games at an average of 60.83, making him the batsman with the fifth-highest career batting average in the history of Test cricket.

Headley made his Test debut against England in 1930, when he scored an imperious 176 in the second innings. Interestingly, he played his last game in the format in 1954, and his career remains the fourth-longest in Test history (24 years and 10 days). The right-hander owns several other impressive records, such as being the second-fastest to 2000 runs in Tests (32 innings).

Headley scored 10 Test centuries, eight of which came against frequent opponents England. His overall first-class career showed just how great he was - 9,921 runs in 103 matches at 69.86. Known for his wristwork and time at the crease, Headley passed away in 1983 at the age of 74.

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#4 Graeme Pollock - 60.97

Graeme Pollock

Another player who didn't get nearly enough opportunities at the international level, although that probably helped his numbers a fair bit, Graeme Pollock played 23 Tests for South Africa in a period characterized by off-field troubles.

The classy left-hander racked up 2,256 runs at an average of 60.97, with seven hundreds to go with 11 fifties. 22 of the 23 Tests he played were against either Australia or England, and he had an average of 69.19 against the former.

Pollock's international career was cruelly cut short by the sporting boycott of South Africa when he was in his mid-twenties, but the distinction of having the fourth-highest Test batting average lives on to this day.

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#3 Steve Smith - 61.80

Steve Smith

One of the modern-day Test batting greats, Steven Peter Devereux Smith continues to shatter records in the longest format of the game, even if his performances have dipped slightly in the recent past.

Smith's transition from leg-spinner to best Test batsman in the world is the stuff of legend by now, while his role in the Cape Town ball-tampering saga is the stuff of infamy. From a purely batting perspective, however, few can match the former Australian skipper.

One of the most unorthodox yet effective batsmen ever, Smith has tallied 7,540 runs in 77 Tests at an average of 61.8. With 27 hundreds and 31 fifties, the 32-year-old is well on the path to greatness - in fact, he's probably there already.

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#2 Adam Voges - 61.87

Adam Voges

Perhaps the outlier on this list because of how low-key his Test career was, Adam Voges retired in 2017 with the second-best batting average in the format.

Voges peaked extremely late and made his Test debut when he was 35 years old against West Indies in June 2015. He scored an unbeaten 130 in that match and shattered records during his short international career, with two double tons marking a period of relentless consistency.

After making his debut at 35, Voges' Australia career was never going to last very long. And although he collected runs at an alarming rate, he soon fell out of favor with the selectors. But it was good while it lasted!

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#1 Don Bradman - 99.94

Don Bradman

What can be written about Sir Don Bradman that hasn't been written already? The numbers alone are enough to convince fans that he's one of the greatest Test batsmen of all time, irrespective of the generation he scored his runs in.

Bradman played 52 Tests over a 20-year span, scoring 6,996 runs at an average of 99.94. With 29 hundreds and 13 fifties to go with an army of run-scoring records, the Australian is almost a mythical figure of greatness in the cricketing community.

The Don passed away shortly after the turn of the century, but his legacy in Test cricket will never ever diminish.