5 players with the worst 50 to 100 conversion of all time in Tests 

One of the most important aspects of Test cricket is building on a score after getting a start. Once a batsman gets set, he needs to make a big score in order to help his team set up a good total.

However, there are some players who get a half-century often but aren’t able to convert those to hundreds.

These are some popular players who have been consistent throughout their career but haven’t been able to convert their starts. Star players like Brendon McCullum, Joe Root and Chris Gayle have found it tough to convert those 50+ scores into hundreds regularly.

Let’s find out which 5 players have the worst conversion rate.

Note: Criteria is a minimum of 10 hundreds

(All statistics accurate as of 30th November 2017)

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#5 Bob Simpson – 27.03%

Bob Simpson was one of the few players whose career lasted for over twenty years. Making his debut in 1957 against South Africa in Johannesburg, Simpson scored a solid 60 in his maiden outing. He was a regular member of the Australian squad in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Simpson often got starts but couldn’t convert them into big scores. In fact, he scored his first hundred (which he converted into a triple ton) in his 30th Test. Till then he had crossed the 50-run mark 15 times but had thrown it away every time he got to the landmark.

When he drew curtains on his 62-match Test career, he ended up with 27 half-centuries and 10 hundreds which puts him at #5 on the list of the worst conversion rate (27.03%). However, he is still regarded as one of the best Australian openers of all time.

#4 Michael Atherton (25.81%)

Michael Atherton

Former England skipper Michael Atherton was one of the gutsiest and most solid openers in cricket. He was one of the rare players who had more ducks than centuries in Test cricket (16 centuries and 20 ducks).

Steve Waugh nicknamed him ‘cockroach’ due to his stubborn nature and the simple reason that it was very hard to dismiss him. He also captained England for a record 54 Test matches which was broken by Alastair Cook last year.

The stubborn Lancashire opener though was also known for not converting his starts. He has 62 50+ scores out of which he has converted only 16 of them into three-figure scores. In fact, there was a period in 1993/94, where Atherton had 7 50+ scores in 11 innings but none of them went past 100.

Thus, he is ranked fourth on the list of worst conversion rates.

#3 Alec Stewart – 25%

Alec Stewart

Alec Stewart is arguably the greatest wicket-keeper batsman England have ever produced. A stylish batsman and a reliable keeper, Stewart was an integral member of both formats throughout the 1990s.

He made his debut in 1990. Though he had a pretty sedate start to his career with both the bat and gloves, England persisted with him. Slowly, as he grew in experience, he started giving impressive performances.

He slowly turned into a reliable batsman who could not only keep for long hours but also could bat anywhere in the batting order. At one point in his career in 1992, he averaged 46.10 with 6 fifties and 4 hundreds (those 4 centuries came in the span of 8 innings).

However, after that period, he couldn’t convert those starts (fifties) into hundreds regularly. Thus, in his 133-Test career he scored 15 hundreds and 45 fifties and had a conversion rate of only 25% which puts him third on this list.

#2 VVS Laxman - 23.29%

VVS Laxman

Not many would have expected VVS Laxman’s name in this list. He was India’s crisis man. Every time India were in trouble, it was Laxman who would put his hand up and bailed them out of trouble. But he is one of the poorest 50 to 100 converters.

Laxman is remembered for the majestic 281 he scored to help India script a memorable come-from-behind victory at the Eden Gardens against a rampant Australia. Before that innings, the Hyderabadi batsman had had a start-stop career. He averaged only 27.06 in 35 innings. But that one innings changed it all.

Laxman has scored tons of runs for India but not many of those were converted to 100+ scores. Most of his memorable knocks have come when India were in trouble, especially in the second innings. No doubt he was called a second-innings specialist.

Laxman crossed 50 on 17 occasions but could only convert 17 of those to three-figure scores. Thus, with a conversion rate of 23.29%, Laxman has the second worst conversion rate.

#1 Misbah-ul-Haq – 20.41%

Misbah-ul-Haq

An ice-cool, reliable and sturdy batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq however heads this list of worst conversion rates. The world might remember the former Pakistan skipper for that fateful scoop he played in the WT20 final in 2007, but he was one of the main reasons for Pakistan’s resurgence in world cricket.

After the spot-fixing saga in 2010, the way Misbah led Pakistan was remarkable. He was inspirational, confident and successful as he went on to become Pakistan’s most successful Test skipper.

With the bat, very few could bat the way he did. He could adjust in such a way that he could bat (and score runs) in any conditions and on any pitch. But there will be one record Misbah will want to forget and that would be his conversion rate.

He had a conversion rate of 20.41%. He has crossed 50 on 49 occasions but only has 10 hundreds. Thus, it puts him at #1 on this list.