Top 10 Australian batsmen of all time

Among the cricketing nations in the world, Australia is perhaps the greatest among them all and it is perhaps the only team in the world that has almost always had an excellent batting line-up at their disposal.

Throughout the course of their cricketing history, the team has produced some of the best batsmen in the world and it is perhaps one of the reasons why Australia have been such a successful team for such a long time.

Very few teams in the world, barring perhaps the West Indies, can boast such an array of top-class batsman throughout the course of their history. Here is a look at 10 of the best batsmen to have ever represented Australia in international cricket.

10 Steve Smith

The man who entered the Australian team as a leg-spinner back in 2010 is well on course to become one of the nation's greatest batsmen and at this point in time, he is the best Test batsman in the world by some margin.

Steven Smith may not have the technique that would make cricket coaches sit up and take notice, but it has proven to be mighty effective all over the world over the past few years. Smith is perfectly at home against all form of bowling and has scored runs on the green pitches of England, the bouncy surfaces in Australia and the spin-friendly dustbowls in India.

There are hardly any shortcomings in his batting, and the innings he played in the first Ashes Test this year, taking Australia to a 1-0 lead, further exemplify him as a batsman of rare gifts.

He has played 57 Tests so far, and has scored 5511 runs at a staggering average of 61.23.

In addition, he has already scored 21 centuries in his career and is well on course to score many more in the years to come. In limited overs cricket, he is what commentators would describe as a 'busy player' and although he would like to improve that record, he has often proven to be a match-turning player for Australia in the shorter versions of the game.

9 Justin Langer

When Justin Langer first got his break in the Australian team back in 1993, he could not make it count, but he reinvented his game and returned to the side as a top order colossus. He batted at number 3 for a while before moving up to the opener's slot, and became one of the best batsmen of his generation.

Langer had the technique to knuckle down and play for hours without giving any chances to the bowlers, but more often than not he revelled in scintillating attacking batsmanship right from the outset.

A strike rate of 54.22 in 105 Test matches is a clear indication of the sort of mayhem he often unleashed at the top of the order.

He scored runs all over the world, and racked up 23 centuries and 50 half-centuries over the course of his distinguished career. Although his one-day international career did not quite take off, there is no doubt that his Test figures of 7696 runs at an average of 45.27 have cemented his place in the pantheon of Australian batting greats.

8 Michael Hussey

Known as 'Mr. Cricket', one of Australia's greatest batsmen had to wait till he was almost 29 years old before he could make his first appearance in international cricket. But when he did, he became one of the world's leading batsmen across the three formats of the game.

The left-handed Michael Hussey could hold his own against any bowler and had a determination in his batting that remained unmatched in world cricket. He started off his career as an opening batsman, but played in the middle-order for Australia across all formats.

Hussey played 79 Tests in his eight-year career, and piled up 6345 runs at a highly impressive average of 51.52. He scored 19 centuries and 29 half-centuries in Test cricket. In one-day internationals, he averaged 48.15 over the course of 185 games and scored 5442 runs at a strike rate of 87.15.

He was an equally menacing batsman in T20 cricket, and won many tight games for Australia on his own.

7 Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke retired in 2015, and at the end of a glittering career, he cemented his place as one of his country's greatest ever batsmen. His all-around abilities as a batsman saw him become the 4th highest run scorer in both Test matches and one-day internationals for Australia.

On his Test debut against India at Bangalore in 2004, he announced himself on the international stage with a superb century on a turning pitch. Over the next decade or so, he went on to score 27 more.

Clarke was adept against both spin and pace, and it was often difficult for bowlers to find a way through him when he was on song. In addition, he was an attacking batsman by nature and preferred to dominate bowlers at all times. In one-day internationals, he started off brilliantly and was one of the world's leading batsman for a long time before he started playing less limited overs cricket. Even then, he scored 7981 runs in the format and scored 8 centuries and 58 half-centuries.

He led Australia to its 5th World Cup victory in the 2015 World Cup and signed off from limited overs cricket.

6 Allan Border

The Ashes 1981

He is the second highest run-getter for Australia in Test cricket and one of the highest scorers in one-day international cricket, which is why it is no surprise that former great Allan Border is among the greatest batsmen to have played for the country.

He might not have been the prettiest batsman to watch but he was gritty, he had the right temperament and the ability to tough it out against the best bowlers in the world.

In 156 Test matches played over a span of around 14 years, Border amassed 11174 runs and held the record for the highest scorer in Test cricket history for many years. He averaged 50.56 in Test cricket and scored 27 hundreds to emerged as one of the world's batsmen during his the 1980s.

In 273 one-day internationals, Border made 6524 runs and led the team to their first World Cup triumph back in 1987.

5 Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden

After his first stint with the Australian team back in 1994 proved to be a disappointing one, no one really gave Matthew Hayden when he returned to the Test team in the form of an opener in 2000.

Despite the odds, he proved everybody wrong, and became one of the most fearsome opening batsmen in Test and one-day international cricket over the next eight or nine years.

Hayden was an ultra-aggressive opener who preferred to dominate the bowlers right from the start, but on the other hand, he also had a solid defensive technique that allowed him to mount a rearguard if the situation demanded so.

That being said, it was the mix of technical excellence and brutal stroke play that made him one of the most dangerous batsmen of his generation.

He scored 30 centuries in 103 Tests and scored 8625 runs at an average of 50.73 and a strike rate of over 60. Hayden briefly held the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket, when he scored 380 against Zimbabwe in the Perth Test in October 2003.

In one-day internationals, he played 161 games and scored 6133 runs at an averaged of 43.80. Hayden was the member of one of the most successful Australian teams ever, and was the opening batsman in two consecutive World Cup triumphs.

4 Greg Chappell

In a Test career spanning around 13 years from 1970 to the early 1980s, Greg Chappell was, without a doubt, the best Australian batsman of his time and one of the world's leading batsmen who could take on the great West Indies fast bowlers with aplomb.

Blessed with an excellent technique, the temperament to take on any situation head-on and the ability to attack the best bowlers in the world made him one of Australia's all-time greats.

Chappell started his career with a bang when he scored a century on his Test debut at Perth in 1970, and rounded off his stellar career with another one at Sydney against Pakistan in 1984. He scored 7110 runs at an average of 53.86 in 87 Tests and scored 24 hundreds.

However, what is often forgotten is that during one of his best runs of form in the 1970s, he played in World Series Cricket. Since those were unofficial Tests, the runs are not part of the record books. However, Chappell scored heavily against the best fast bowlers in the world and averaged 69 in those 'Super Tests'.

He played only 74 one-day internationals but managed to score 3 centuries and aggregated 2331 runs at an average of 40.18.

3 Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh debuted for Australia in Test cricket in 1985 when the team was being rebuilt under Allan Border, and when he retired 19 years later in 2004, the national team was back to being the best side in the world.

During those years, Steve Waugh emerged as Australia's best batsman and was famous for his ability to score runs against all odds, despite having serious deficiencies in his technique.

He played 168 Tests for Australia and scored 10927 runs at an average of 51.06. In addition, he scored 32 centuries and became one of the top batsmen of his era. He might not have been great to watch, but there was no other batsman one would have liked to be in the middle when the pressure was on.

In one day cricket, he was an accumulator par excellence and could shift gears with ease. In 325 games, he may have scored only 3 centuries (largely because he was not a top order players) but scored 45 half-centuries, to end with an aggregate of 7569 runs.

Waugh was a vital member of the 1987 World Cup winning team, and then was the captain and one of the team's leading batsmen when Australia won the World Cup for the second time in 1999 in England.

2 Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was the nation's best batsman during the course of a career that lasted around 17 years and in fact, he is rightly included among the greatest batsmen to have ever played the game.

Ponting's supremely attacking batting broke the back of most attacks in Tests and one-day internationals and made Australia one of the most difficult teams to play against throughout the noughties.

In 168 Test matches, he had a strike rate of 58.72 and averaged 51.85, which indicates that he was a batsman who often scored big and that too quickly. When that happens, it almost always puts the opposition on the back foot, and it is not a surprise that Australia regularly scored at around 4 runs an over during those years. Ponting is the highest run scorer in the history of Australian cricket with a total of 13378 runs and scored a staggering 41 Test centuries.

In one day internationals, he was an equally damaging batsman and scored 13704 runs at a strike rate of 80.39 and average of 42.03. He batted at number 3 in three triumphant World Cups for Australia and was the captain in the 2003 and 2007 editions.

In the final of the 2003 World Cup, he scored one of the best centuries in the history of the tournament and almost single-handedly decided the game. He was peerless.

1 Sir Donald Bradman

Bradman Batting

Sir Donald Bradman or 'The Don', as he was known more popularly, is quite simply the greatest batsman who ever played the game and to this day, there has been no batsman from any country who has dominated the sport to the degree that he did during the course of his 20-year career.

His average of 99.94 in 52 Test matches remains unsurpassed, and one could say that the record will remain intact for as long as Test cricket is played. The Australian great was a 'run machine' before that term even became a part of the discourse.

He never went to any cricket academy and never received any formal training from a professional coach. Bradman's homegrown technique and innate attacking instincts made him the most feared batsman of his era.

He even scored a triple century in a single day once and that is something that will probably never be bettered. In fact, in an effort to subdue his run scoring prowess that England's captain Douglas Jardine had to resort to Bodyline tactics in 1932.

He remains an absolute colossus of the game to this day and his run-making was legendary not only because of his average but also because he was an enthralling batsman. He scored 34 Test hundreds, 2 of them triple tons, and his tally of hundreds stood as a record for many years.