Top 5 number 5s in Tests for South Africa

South Africa may have been away from cricket for around two decades due to the boycott of their cricket team by other nations but that did not cripple the country's cricketing infrastructure.

They continued to produce great cricketers and when they reentered the game in the early 1990s, it didn't seem that they had been away for so long.

On the other hand, they are the third oldest Test playing nation and hence the cricketing history of South Africa is quite rich.

They have produced plenty of outstanding middle-order batsmen for decades and among them, many have been excellent number 5s. Here is a look at 5 of the best to have ever played for South Africa.

#5 Roy McLean

The right-hander played for South Africa at a time when they were very much part of the cricketing establishment and during the course of his Test career (1951-1954), Roy McLean became the team's middle-order mainstay.

McLean played 40 Tests for South Africa in his career and in 22 of those, he batted at number 5. McLaren was a solid batsman who first came into prominence in a Test match in Australia when he helped his team complete a remarkable victory (Australia had made 520) with a gritty 76.

That innings was played in South Africa's tour to Australia in 1952-53 and since then he continued to be a fixture in the middle-order. In the 22 Test matches in which he McLean batted at number 5, he made 1056 runs at an average of 36.41 and made 5 centuries, in addition to 1 fifty.

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