There will be no changes for the batsmen who have never opened. There will be no changes (other than a mean value of 2.0 as against the current 1.0) for the omni-present openers. For batsmen such as Boycott and Gavaskar there will be very little change. The change is significant only for those batsmen like Alec Stewart who have moved up and down the order quite frequently. Some of the key batsmen are compared below.

These are current up to the recently concluded second Test between New Zealand and Bangladesh.

Batsman            L Cty  Tests Inns BPTot  BPIdx MeanDev  Freq Batpos (%)
Revised
Stewart A.J          Eng   133  235    919   3.91   1.56    77 @  1( 32.8)
Previous
Stewart A.J          Eng   133  235    842   3.58   1.97    77 @  1( 32.8)
Revised
Jayasuriya S.T     ~ Slk   110  188    519   2.76   1.44   152 @  1( 80.9)
Previous
Jayasuriya S.T     ~ Slk   110  188    367   1.95   1.77   152 @  1( 80.9)
Revised
Langer J.L         ~ Aus   105  182    440   2.42   0.55   115 @  1( 63.2)
Previous
Langer J.L         ~ Aus   105  182    325   1.79   0.90   115 @  1 (63.2) 

It can be seen that the BP Index values are higher because the opening positions are assigned values of 2.0 instead of 1.0. However, more significantly, the Mean Variance values are significantly lower for all these players. These are probably the correct values. Alec Stewart remains the one who has been most tossed around, but he can derive some comfort from a mean variance value of around 1.5.

Just for the record, the top 25 batsmen in the revised table are listed in order of innings played. As per Steve Procter's suggestion, the Standard Deviation has been calculated and shown.

Batsman         L Cty  Tests Inns  BPIdx  M Dev   Freq Batpos (%) StdDev


Border A.R      ~ Aus   156  265    4.70   0.98    89 @  4( 33.6)   1.14

Waugh S.R         Aus   168  260    5.42   0.74   142 @  5( 54.6)   0.95

Stewart A.J       Eng   133  235    3.91   1.56    77 @  1( 32.8)   1.79

Tendulkar S.R     Ind   144  233    4.29   0.60   189 @  4( 81.1)   0.71

Lara B.C        ~ Win   131  232    3.78   0.51   148 @  4( 63.8)   0.65

Gooch G.A         Eng   118  215    2.31   0.57   184 @  1( 85.6)   0.80

Gavaskar S.M      Ind   125  214    2.21   0.44   203 @  1( 94.9)   1.42

Atherton M.A      Eng   115  212    2.10   0.25   197 @  1( 92.9)   0.49

Waugh M.E         Aus   128  209    4.24   0.56   170 @  4( 81.3)   0.67

Gower D.I       ~ Eng   117  204    4.00   0.71    91 @  4( 44.6)   0.87

Haynes D.L        Win   116  202    2.03   0.03   201 @  1( 99.5)   0.42

Dravid R          Ind   117  201    3.29   0.78   146 @  3( 72.6)   1.00

Inzamam-ul-Haq    Pak   120  200    4.66   0.91    98 @  4( 49.0)   1.15

Warne S.K         Aus   145  199    8.29   0.82   113 @  8( 56.8)   1.18

Kallis J.H        Saf   114  194    3.77   0.61    96 @  4( 49.5)   0.79

Boycott G         Eng   108  193    2.02   0.13   191 @  1( 99.0)   0.80

Boon D.C          Aus   107  190    2.85   0.61   111 @  3( 58.4)   0.84

Ponting R.T       Aus   114  190    4.02   1.34   125 @  3( 65.8)   1.46

Javed Miandad     Pak   124  189    4.24   0.57   140 @  4( 74.1)   0.71

Jayasuriya S.T  ~ Slk   110  188    2.76   1.44   152 @  1( 80.9)   1.72

Cowdrey M.C       Eng   114  188    3.84   1.09    54 @  5( 28.7)   1.28

Taylor M.A      ~ Aus   104  186    2.00   0.00   186 @  1(100.0)   0.00

Walsh C.A         Win   132  185   10.62   0.65   122 @ 11( 65.9)   0.63

Greenidge C.G     Win   108  185    2.03   0.13   182 @  1( 98.4)   0.72

Vengsarkar D.B    Ind   116  185    3.67   0.81    74 @  3( 40.0)   1.03

Highest averages at different batting positions

This is another interesting request. It would be of considerable interest to see the highest averages at different batting positions, with a qualification of at least 1000 runs at that position. Some surprises are in store for us.

Opening: Sutcliffe H        Eng  4522      61.11

No surprise to see Herbert Sutcliffe at the top. He was amongst the best three openers of all time. He is followed by Bruce Mitchell with 2390 runs @ 56.90.

No.3:    Bradman D.G        Aus  5078     103.63

Again no one should be surprised to see the greatest ever batsman at this position, with a 100+ average, the only instance of a such an average. He is followed by Ken Barrington with 2626 runs at 77.24.

No.4:    Kallis J.H         Saf  5675      71.84

Jacques Kallis' consistency at this position is well-known and this accounts for his overall average of high 50s. Surprisingly he is followed by Sourav Ganguly with 1143 runs @ 71.44. Have the Indian selectors/captains missed a trick there?

No.5:    Worrell F.M.M      Win  1189      59.45

This is a proof of the domination of the famous Ws. They occupy the first three places. Frank Worrell is followed by Clyde Walcott with 1599 runs @ 59.22.

No.6:    Chanderpaul S    ~ Win  2087      63.24

Another surprise, or perhaps not. The difficulty opposing bowlers have in dismissing Shivnarine Chanderpaul is shown by his outstanding average at this pivotal position. He is followed by Salim Malik with 1591 runs @ 56.82.

No.7:    McMillan B.M       Saf  1051      58.39

Brian McMillan has outdone quite a few fancied others at this position. He is followed by the mercurial Gilchrist with 3864 runs @ 49.62.

No.8:    Vettori          ~ Nzl  1136      42.07

Can anyone deny Vettori's claims to an allrounder position when he bats like this at No. 8. He improved his No. 8 position average in the recently concluded Test with an aggressive 94. He is followed by Mark Boucher with 1034 runs at 34.47.

No batsman has scored 1000 runs at Nos.9, 10 and 11. Just for the record, Shaun Pollock has scored 534 runs @ 41.08 at No. 9 (min 500 runs). W. Oldfield has scored 263 runs at 26.30 at No.10 (min 250 runs). Brian Statham has scored 348 runs @ 13.92 at the No.11 position (min 250 runs).

Just to complete the analysis and in anticipation of reader demands, I have given below the best batting position, runs and average for a few key batsmen, with the proviso that a minimum of 1000 runs should have been scored in that position.

Tendulkar       4  9573  57.32 
Dravid          3  7444  57.26
Laxman          6  2130  48.41
Ponting         3  7062  66.00
S.R.Waugh       5  6754  56.28
Lara            3  3749  60.47
Richards        3  3508  61.54
Sangakkara      3  5557  61.07
Inzamam-ul-haq  4  4867  52.90
...
Warne           8  2005  19.10
Vaas            8  1703  24.33
Kumble          7  1087  20.13
and
CS Martin      11    64   2.46

Chris Martin had an average of 2.00 (that is the BPI of an opener) until his last innings against Bangladesh when he reached his best ever score of 12 not out, increasing the average to 2.46. In the current Test he remained unbeaten on 0, thus remaining at the majestic figure of 2.46. The million-dollar question is if he will ever get 100 Test runs and reach a double-digit score again.