Brian Lara
Ricky Ponting
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Ricky Ponting leads 2 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Brian Lara at #8 and Ricky Ponting at #9.
Head-to-head FAQ
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The case for Brian Lara
Brian Lara was cricket's supreme record-breaker and its most thrilling big-innings player. The left-hander holds the highest individual Test score, 400 not out against England in 2004, and the highest first-class score, 501 not out for Warwickshire in 1994, the only man to reclaim the Test record after losing it. He scored 11,953 Test runs with 34 centuries, nine of them over 150, and averaged over 52 while often carrying a weak West Indies batting order. His high backlift and explosive strokeplay made even world-class attacks look ordinary; his 153 not out to beat Australia at Bridgetown in 1999 is regarded as one of the greatest match-winning innings ever played. Lara scored with a speed and audacity that set him apart from his contemporaries, and on his day no batsman was more capable of dominating a Test single-handedly.
The case for Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting was the driving force of the most dominant team of the modern era and one of Test cricket's heaviest scorers. He amassed 13,378 Test runs with 41 centuries and 13,704 ODI runs, second only to Tendulkar in both. A brilliant puller and cutter with fast hands, he anchored Australia's batting for over a decade. As captain he won 48 of his 77 Tests and lifted two of his three World Cup titles, in 2003 and 2007, leading a side that went undefeated across those tournaments. His unbeaten 140 in the 2003 World Cup final against India was a masterclass in one-day batting. Ponting's fierce competitiveness and outstanding fielding at silly point and in the covers made him the embodiment of Australian cricket's golden generation, and his combined run tally across formats ranks among the very highest ever.