In the shadow of the Don: 7 batsmen with highest runs/innings over 52 tests
Sir Donald Bradman has a unique place in the history of the modern-day sport, for in no other sport has its best exponent been twice as good as the next best. Although there have been arguments made claiming the numbers don't always do justice to talent (an Australian spectator once remarked about Hammond; "He was as good as Bradman, just didn't get enough runs"), Bradman's numbers still suggest that he had copious amounts of it and that it was put to the best possible use.
One argument that can be made against Bradman's numbers though is that he didn't play enough matches (52) for his mantle and stamina to be tested. It can be argued that other players may have had aggregates over a 52-test-purple patch in a much longer career.
But then again a question arises, which variable do we want to compare it with for as argued in an earlier article by the author, career numbers (especially not outs and hence, averages) are dictated greatly by batting position. For fairness of comparison, I have gone for runs/innings which negates the effect of lesser innings/matches and lesser not-outs (disadvantages for middle and top order batsmen respectively).
Even on truncated standards, Bradman's 87.5 runs/innings looks insane. Here is how close the following 7 batsmen came to challenging it.
Brian Lara (Mtchs: 52, Inns: 93, Runs: 5576, Runs/Inns: 59.96, 100s-19, 50s-17)
Perhaps the most captivating batsman of all time, Brian Lara scripted a remarkable turnaround towards the latter half of his career. Had it been able to turn around West Indies' cricket fortunes it would surely have gotten its due.
Having had a fabulous start to his career, Brian Lara's form faded away from 1997 onwards as West Indies started to tumble as a result of it. Although there were flickers of brilliance (1999 Frank Worrell Trophy), Lara was only a shadow of his former self until the 2001 series to Sri Lanka came about.
In conditions where the ball wasn't rising beyond waist height, Brian Lara was batting in a trance. He clobbered a staggering 688 runs in the 3 tests (second highest aggregate for a 3 test series) and didn't look back as far as personal form was concerned; averaging nearly 60 runs per innings during the phase. The fact that it lasted right until the end of his career meant that he was still the searing batsman that set the world on fire with his early career exploits.