Top 10 Australian middle-order batsmen of all time

The top order is, without a doubt, the most important part of any good Test batting line-up and if a team does not have a competent top three, then it is highly improbable that it would get much success in the longest format of the game.

However, on the flip side, a strong middle-order is also necessary if the advantage provided by the top order is to be utilised and it is in these positions, that teams usually have their mavericks, stroke-makers and technically brilliant players.

Australia have historically been one of the best Test sides in history and the country has produced plenty of outstanding middle-order batsmen. Their success in Test cricket is largely to do with the fact that they have almost always had a complete side.

So, here is a look at the greatest middle-order batsmen that Australia has ever produced.

#10 Damien Martyn

Former Australian middle-order batsman Damien Martyn may have needed some time to really break into the Test team, he became one of the world's leading batsmen in the early noughties.

Martyn was an elegant stroke-maker, who could play anywhere on the offside and his legside game wasn't limited either. In addition to that, his defensive technique was excellent and having a batsman of that calibre at number 4 or number 5, made Australia the world-beating side that they became at the time.

More importantly, he was excellent against spin as well and the centuries against India at Chennai in 2004 and the one against Sri Lanka at Kandy in the same year were classics. As a middle-order batsman, Martyn scored 4,406 runs at an average of 46.37 and also notched 13 centuries in addition to 23 half-centuries.

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