Top 10 English middle order batsmen of all time

When it comes to Test cricket, the middle-order batsmen are responsible for scoring the bulk of the runs and control the flow of the innings.

Some of the greatest batsmen to have played the game have almost always been middle-order batsmen and the positions between 4 to 7 are absolutely vital if a team is to put up a big score.

England, the world's oldest cricketing nation has produced plenty of top-class middle-order batsmen over the course of its cricketing history and many have gone on to become greats of the game. Here is a look at 10 of the very best.

#10 Sir Ian Botham

The former England great was possibly one of the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game and had the ability to influence games both with the bat and the ball.

Ian Botham batted in middle-order and batted at all positions from number 4 to number 9, however, it was at number 6 that he batted the most times.

In 97 Test matches that he batted in between positions 4 and 7, Botham scored 5013 runs that included 14 centuries and 21 half-centuries.

He was primarily an attacking batsman and believed in taking the bowlers on from the outset. That is perhaps the reason why his average is only 34.81, however, as an all-rounder who batted in the middle-order he was one of England's greatest assets. 

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