5 most successful English batting pairs of all time in Test cricket
Test cricket is a game in which big totals are necessary if a team are to entertain any chance of winning the game. Without those runs on the board, the bowlers will not have enough of a cushion when they try and get the 20 wickets needed to win the game.
In order to put on those big scores, batsmen need to string together partnerships. Over the years, England have had plenty of such important pairs who have become vital to the team. Here is a look at 5 of the most prolific batting pairs for England in Test cricket.
5 Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe
Two of England's, and indeed the world's greatest ever opening batsmen, started their careers in different eras and hence, they could together open the innings for their country for only around 6 years.
The pair opened the innings for England on 39 occasions from 1924 and 1930, during the course of which they firmly established themselves as one of the greatest opening batting pairs in Test cricket history. Hobbs and Sutcliffe were both technically superb and had the ability to bat on difficult wickets without flinching.
The pair averaged an incredible 87.86 in those 39 innings, and went on to amass 3339 runs together to become the 5th most prolific batting pair in English cricket history. They put on century partnerships on 15 occasions and crossed 50 eleven times. Their highest partnership was the 283 against Australia at Melbourne in the 1925-26 Ashes.