Middle order batsmen are said to carry forward the tone set by the openers. The most adaptable players make up the middle order and are charged to rebuild an innings if early wickets fall. England is one the oldest and the successful cricketing nations, and middle order batsmen’s contribution cannot be overlooked.
1. Denis Compton
Compton played 78 tests for the English side between 1937 and 1957. Crompton was an attacking middle-order batsman, who batted at number 4. His blade glinted as runs flowed, and sliced the bowling with brand like flashes. He had all the strokes within the book and plenty on the far side of it. He cut with a flash and drove on either side of the wicket. His specialty was the sweep that he played with numerous variations. As a middle order batsman, he registered 5422 runs, 17 centuries and 24 half centuries at an average of 52.64.
2. Ken Barrington
Ken Barrington is regarded as one the greatest batsmen to have graced the game for England. A middle order batsman and an occasional opener, he scored 6806 runs at an average of 58.67 comprising 7 centuries and 27 half centuries. One of the most impressive traits of his batting was that his average was higher off from home, and his ability to concentrate was uncanny. Apart from that the audience desired for his square cuts and cover drives.
3. Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen is by far the most stylish batsman to have played for England. What makes him great is the impact he had with bat in hand and once the runs flowed off it, the dispiriting result it created on the opposition. Pietersen scored the majority of the runs batting at number 4. As a middle order batsman, he registered 8050 runs at an average of 47.07 and in winning causes his average went up to 58.
4. David Gower
Arguably one of the best middle order batsmen to have represented England, Gower played from 1978 to 1992 and belted bowlers with his bat. Apart from that his ability to bat even at the top made him an enticing player. In his career Gower made 5539 runs and scored ten tons and 29 half centuries.
5. Ian Bell
One of the prolific run getters, Ian Bell was one of the formidable pillars who took English cricket to its heights. He started off as a top-order batsman and later went on to become a middle order batsman. In a career spanning 11 years, Bell played 118 tests and registered 5497 runs at an average of 45.05 and scored 20 hundred and 35 half centuries. His cover drive was an absolute treat to watch.
6. Garaham Thorpe
Thorpe played precisely 100 test matches for the English side, in which he piled up 6608 runs at an average of 44.9. He was one of the mainstays of the English middle order during what was a very tough time. His ability to play spin well made him an enticing batsman, who scored prolifically in the subcontinent. He has 15 centuries and 139 half-centuries to his name.
7. Colin Cowdrey
Colin Cowdrey’s ability to bat at any position made him an enticing batsman. However, he batted in the middle order for most of his career. The first English cricketer to play 100 test matches, Cowdrey played 73 of those matches as a middle order batsman. In a career spanning 21 years, he played 114 tests and piled up 4404 runs and registered 11 centuries and 24 half centuries.
8. Paul Collingwood
Former England all rounder Paul Collingwood well-tried to be one in every of the foremost accomplished middle-order batsmen from 2003 through to 2011.Collingwood was technically very good and relaxed on the inexperienced pitches in England, the quick decks in Australia or the geographical region within the landmass. Additionally thereto, he has a wonderful defensive technique that created him such a troublesome batter to dislodge. He contested in sixty eight matches and scored 4259 runs at a mean of 40.56. He notched up ten a whole lot and as several as twenty half-centuries in his distinguished career.
9. Allan Lamb
The South African born hitter was the mainstay of the Britain middle-order within the Eighties and early Nineties and went on to become one among the most effective middle-order batsmen to have ever pictured the country. He was a feisty stroke-player and had the technique to barter the simplest bowlers within the business. Throughout his time, the American quick bowlers were virtually unplayable occasionally however Lamb did well against them. He batted within the middle-order on seventy three occasions and scored 4274 runs at a mean of 37.16. He scored thirteen centuries and sixteen half-centuries as a middle-order slugger.
10. Ian Bottham
Bottham was presumably one amongst the best all-rounders to ever contend the sport and had the flexibility to influence games each with the bat and therefore the ball. Ian Botham batted in middle-order and batted in any respect positions from variety four to variety nine, however, he notched up most of the runs while batting at number 6. In ninety-seven test matches that he came to bat at positions in four and seven, Botham scored 5013 runs that enveloped fourteen centuries and twenty one half-centuries.
