Top 5 New Zealand Test opening pairs of all time

Lou Vincent and Mark RichardsonNew Zealand, one of the newer Test-playing nations, took some time to find their feet at the international level. Success in Test cricket arrived much later.

Good opening batsmen are essential ingredients for a good Test team and although New Zealand have had a few of them, they never quite had an opening pair which could be compared with the best in the world.

However, there have been opening pairs who have shaped the course of New Zealand's Test history. Here is a look at 5 of the most prolific opening pairs for New Zealand in Test cricket.

#5 Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent

The pair did not open the batting for New Zealand for long but for the brief period that they did, Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent ended up forming the 5th most prolific opening partnership in the country's Test cricket history.

Left-handed Richardson was an old-school opening batsman and preferred to dig in for long hours, without much regard to scoring. He was cautious, had an excellent defensive technique and the judgement to leave most deliveries alone.

On the other hand, Vincent was a more adventurous player and although he did possess the requisite technical skills, he preferred to go after anything loose. The pair opened 19 times between 2001 and 2003, during the course of which they made 745 runs in total at a decent average of 41.38. They put on stands in excess of a hundred twice and crossed the fifty run mark the same number of times.

#4 Graham Dowling and Bruce Murray

Graham Dowling

The pair opened for New Zealand on 20 occasions from 1968 to 1971 and during that period, the right-handed duo of Graham Dowling and Bruce Murray became a solid opening pair for their country. Dowling was a technically proficient batsman, who went on to become the captain and remained the country's premier opening batsman for most of his career.

Murray debuted in 1968 and instantly struck up an excellent partnership with Dowling at the top of the order. He was, like Richardson, a classical opener and eschewed strokes at the expense of crease occupation. Over the course of 20 innings, the pair added 789 runs and averaged 39.30, at a time when New Zealand often struggled to compete.

They put on a century plus stand twice and crossed fifty thrice.

#3 Martin Guptill and Tom Latham

Martin Guptill and Tom Latham

They might not have set the world alight with their opening partnerships but the Martin Guptill-Tom Latham pairing has proven to be one of the most prolific opening pairs in New Zealand's Test history.

While left-hander Tom Latham is a gritty player who has the capacity to bat for long hours and the patience to play out the new ball before opening up, his partner is perhaps his polar opposite.

Guptill is an impulsive stroke-maker, prone to going for booming drives to deliveries that are pitched up. When it comes off, it looks great, but often enough he gives his wicket away. Even then, they have opened on 30 occasions and have totalled 1207 runs in their partnerships, which is the third highest among Kiwi opening pairs. The pair has put on 3 century-plus stands and as many as 7 fifty plus stands.

#2 Trevor Franklin and John Wright

Trevor Franklin

This proved to be one of New Zealand's most solid opening partnerships due to the insistence of Trevor Franklin to refuse to play any shots and simply stay at the crease for as long as possible.

On the other hand, John Wright was already an established opening batsman and the pair formed one of the most successful opening partnerships ever. Franklin was a notorious blocker, in the league of England's Chris Tavare, and a career strike rate of 26.44 is proof of his ability to drive spectators out of stadiums.

However, with Wright, he formed an excellent combination and during the course of 28 partnerships from 1988 to 1991, the pair totalled 1543 runs. However, what sets them apart is their average of 55.10, the highest among all New Zealand opening pairs who have batted at least 10 times. They made 5 century-plus stands and the same number of stands worth fifty or more.

#1 Bruce Edgar and John Wright

John Wright

When New Zealand well and truly came of age as a Test-playing nation in the 1980s, the opening pair of Bruce Edgar and John Wright had a major role to play in the success of the team.

They opened 56 times for the Black Caps between 1978 and 1986 and remain the most prolific opening pair in the history of the country's Test cricket.

Wright was one of the team's best batsmen and was particularly known for his ability to knuckle down and face up to the toughest new ball bowlers around with his defensive abilities. Needless to say, he had the game to open up later on as well.

On the other hand, left-handed batsman Bruce Edgar was technically gifted as well and one of his primary traits was his ability to play scorching pace with relative ease. They made a great pair and over the course of 56 partnerships, made 1655 runs at an average of 31.82. They made a century stand only once but crossed the fifty run mark on 12 occasions.