Chris MarsdenAs Joe closes in on the Everest (2000 runs or 23 Tests to go), he is only 4th highest run scorer in Tests in 2025, behind the Edgbaston gorged Gill & the brilliance of Travball
He fell so close to the #realruns summit yesterday - 8 runs to equal the great Sachin against the original Test teams (comparison with The Don & Sobers possible here)
See how almost impossible it was to average over 51 in real Tests - yet De Villiers, Kallis, Greg Chappelli did it. 58 for Sobers and Hammond, 55/56 for Hobbs & Hutton, 61 for Sutcliffe (batting only on roads!), Langer & Sehwag sandwich the Don with their 46.94 averages. His a mere 53 higher...
Barrington 59 of course, Javed 54.4 but given so many lives by hometown umpires who were outrageous cheats. Great player, awful decisions