Most prolific batting pairs for Australia across all three formats

Only a small minority of batsmen are capable of scoring runs across the three formats of the game with sustained success and hence, batsmen who can form fruitful partnerships across the three disparate formats are a bit special.

Australia has produced some of the finest batsmen in the world throughout their history and over the past decade and a half, since cricket became a three-format sport, they have proven that some of their best players can adapt to all the formats with ease.

Some of their greatest players have created legendary partnerships that have been successful across the three formats of the game and here is a look at 5 of the most prolific.

#5 Damien Martyn and Ricky Ponting

South Africa v Australia 2nd Test - Day One

The Australian team that dominated world cricket for most of the early to late noughties had some of the best batsmen in their line up and while Ricky Ponting was definitely the best batsman in the side, Damien Martyn was not far behind when it came to matching the Tasmanian stroke for stroke.

Ponting generally batted at number 3 and Martyn batted at number 4 in both Test and ODI cricket.

Although Martyn played in only 4 T20 internationals, the sheer weight of the runs that they piled on as a pair gets the pair an entry into this list. In just 94 innings that they batted together, they piled up 4739 runs at an average of 53.24.

They had 12 century-plus stands and 24 stands that were in excess of 50 runs. Their most famous stand was the 234 run stand that they put on in the 2003 World Cup final against India, that virtually decided the final.