Sorry it took longer than expected:
**31\. Rahul Dravid** – For mine, the best batsman of the modern game. Tendulkar was more prolific, but Dravid was the complete player who could do whatever the team needed. Often he would walk in at 1 wicket for bugger all and establish an innings or grind out a day 4/5 draw when it was required.
**30\. Sachin Tendulkar** – No explanation required. Best all round batsman across both formats (Test and ODI, I don’t consider T20 as a legitimate form of the game.)
**29\. Ricky Ponting** – My favourite player of all time, and if he didn’t bottle it in the last three years, I’d have rated him higher than Tendulkar. Tarnished his legacy by hanging on for so long.
**28\. Brian Lara** – This bloke could take an innings away from you in a session. Kept the Windies competitive after their bowling attack all called it a day.
**27\. Mahela Jayawardene** – Reminds me a lot of Dravid. A very adaptable batsman who could build his innings around whatever the team needed.
**26\. Shivnarine Chanderpaul** - One the wrong side of 40, and was averaging anywhere between 55-95 up until this year. When he officially retires the Windies will be stuffed IMO, the last great we will see for them.
**25\. Sourav Ganguly** – Absolute wanker of a bloke, but prolific scorer at second or fourth drop, despite what his overall average says. Played a lot at number five too, but didn’t fare as well there. Did tend to struggle against us though.
**24\. Younis Khan** – Pakistans best bat in the last 20 years IMO, averaged over 53\. Always seemed to do very well against Australia, and always looked likely to settle in with Inzi.
**23\. Mike Hussey** – Reliable, dependable. One of the most consistent middle order bats I’ve seen. Should have come into the side earlier but Australia were spoiled for talent at that point.
**22\. VVS Laxman** – Combined well with Ganguly. One of the very few batsmen I can remember that scored well regularly against Australia in Australia.
**21\. Steve Smith** – Only young and a rather ugly technique, but freakishly talented. Reminds me of Tugger a great deal. A gritty player who will become a great bat if he can learn to play the moving ball with a bit better control. Not bad batting average for a leggie.
**20\. Kane Williamson** – The other young batsman to watch in coming years. Unlike Smith, a very graceful batsman who has a great technique. Will go on to score well over 10,000 runs if he stays fit.
**19\. Mark Waugh** – Great technique, effortless stroke player but didn’t quite have the mental fortitude to back it up. Should have converted more of his 47 half centuries but had a penchant for throwing his wicket away when he was set.
**18\. Mohammad Youssuf** – Great middle order bat, established some great partnerships with Younis and Inzi. The captaincy and dressing room infighting ruined his career.
**17\. David Boon** – His last couple of years left a little to be desired, but was still going strong late in his career. Would have rated him much higher if we could include the 80’s.
**16\. Michael Clarke** – Most will probably wonder why I didn’t rate Pup higher, I feel that he had too many lulls in form to be considered a truly great Aussie bat. That said, he was a very good tactical captain and was the right leader to have the boys rally behind when Phil Hughes was taken too early.
**15\. Michael Vaughan** – Played well against Australia and India, and struggled virtually everywhere else.
**14\. Kevin Pietersen** – An unfulfilled career for mine. He should have gone on to score 10,000 runs but his abrasive personality and apparent issue with authority always had him at odds. I felt him to be a rather selfish batsman who was more interested in playing for his average rather than what the team needed.
**13\. Damien Martyn** – Feel like I’m cheating him not listing him higher, but was a reliable #4 or #6\. Tapered off at the end of his career, but was one of the few guys who could perform will on Indian soil.
**12\. Inzamam Ul Haq** – Great bat, but very lazy. Reminded me of Arjuna Ranatunga but with a better attitude. Formed part of a great Paki middle order and like many other batsmen of his era, only really struggled in Australia.
**11\. Thilan Samaraweera** – Only really struggled against us and the Poms. Can score just about anywhere else though.
**10\. Ian Bell** – Bit of a hometown hero. Good on English soil, ordinary elsewhere. Was great in the home Ashes series in 2013, but didn’t really do much for them against Australia outside of that.
**9\. Jonathan Trott** – Outstanding bat against us, save the last series he played in Australia when he was suffering from depression, struggled against the other form sides of the era in the Saffas and India.
**8\. Virat Kohli** – Great against us and the Kiwi’s, and very average against everyone else. He’d have been a lot farther up the list if he was more consistent.
**7\. Graham Thorpe** – Did routinely well against the Aussies, struggled against India and South Africa though. His scores against Bangladesh, Kiwi’s and Paki’s inflated his average.
**6\. Stephen Fleming** – Was a bunny in Australia, England and India. Also struggled to score in New Zealand.
**5\. Nasser Hussain** – A rather mediocre batsman, did do OK in Australia, but was poor in the subcontinent. Wasn’t a great captain IMO.
**4\. Nathan Astle** – Had an up and down career, had a penchant for throwing his wicket away at the most inopportune of times. Could rack up a score though, scored 200 odd against the Poms.
**3\. Javed Miandad** – Outstanding average of 52 in an era dominated by bowlers, but only played until ’93 and he was declining rapidly at that point.
**2\. Ben Stokes** – Not good enough to be considered a straight up batsman. He’s more of a batting allrounder.
**1\. Matthew Hayden** – An opener. A very good one at that, but never played in the middle order.
**Excluded:** Allan Border, Angelo Mathews & Martin Crowe.