Test XI, by our ratings
Best Test XI of the 1970s
Players are included if they played at least 4 years of Test cricket in the 1970s and have at least 50 Tests: 49 players in the Beat My 11 database, with one all-rounder in the side. Ratings use each player's full Test career, not only those years. The XI has 2 openers, 3 middle-order batters, 1 wicketkeeper, 1 all-rounder, 1 spinner and 3 fast bowlers, picked by our ratings: the highest-rated players at each position, in whichever of the three XI shapes in the game rates best as a team.
This XI draws on 5 nations: England (4), West Indies (3), Australia (2), India (1), Pakistan (1).
Career Test totals from the Beat My 11 database, as of 22 October 2026.
The XI, in batting order
| # | Player | Position | Nation | Played in | Career Test stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunil Gavaskar | opener | India | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 125 Tests; 10,122 runs at 51.1, 34 hundreds |
| 2 | Geoffrey Boycott | opener | England | 1970s | 108 Tests; 8,114 runs at 47.7, 22 hundreds |
| 3 | Greg Chappell | middle-order batter | Australia | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 87 Tests; 7,110 runs at 53.9, 24 hundreds |
| 4 | Javed Miandad | middle-order batter | Pakistan | Legends, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s | 124 Tests; 8,832 runs at 52.6, 23 hundreds |
| 5 | Viv Richards | middle-order batter | West Indies | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 121 Tests; 8,540 runs at 50.2, 24 hundreds |
| 6 | Alan Knott | wicketkeeper | England | Legends, 1970s | 95 Tests; 4,389 runs at 32.8, 5 hundreds; 269 dismissals |
| 7 | Garfield Sobers | all-rounder | West Indies | Legends, 1970s | 93 Tests; 8,032 runs at 57.8, 26 hundreds; 235 wickets at 34, 6 five-wicket hauls |
| 8 | Derek Underwood | spinner | England | 1970s | 86 Tests; 297 wickets at 25.8, 17 five-wicket hauls |
| 9 | Dennis Lillee | fast bowler | Australia | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 70 Tests; 355 wickets at 23.9, 23 five-wicket hauls |
| 10 | Michael Holding | fast bowler | West Indies | 1970s, 1980s | 60 Tests; 249 wickets at 23.7, 13 five-wicket hauls |
| 11 | Bob Willis | fast bowler | England | 1970s, 1980s | 90 Tests; 325 wickets at 25.2, 16 five-wicket hauls |
Next in line
| Player | Position | Nation | Career Test stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Gooch | opener | England | 118 Tests; 8,900 runs at 42.6, 20 hundreds |
| Doug Walters | middle-order batter | Australia | 74 Tests; 5,357 runs at 48.3, 15 hundreds |
| Rod Marsh | wicketkeeper | Australia | 96 Tests; 3,633 runs at 26.5, 3 hundreds; 356 dismissals |
| Richard Hadlee | all-rounder | New Zealand | 86 Tests; 3,124 runs at 27.2, 2 hundreds; 431 wickets at 22.3, 36 five-wicket hauls |
| B.S. Chandrasekhar | spinner | India | 58 Tests; 242 wickets at 29.75, 16 five-wicket hauls |
| Jeff Thomson | fast bowler | Australia | 51 Tests; 200 wickets at 28, 8 five-wicket hauls |
What stands out
- Between them the eleven played 1,059 Tests. Sunil Gavaskar has the most (125) and Michael Holding the fewest (60).
- The best batting average in this XI is Garfield Sobers's 57.8, and the best bowling average is Michael Holding's 23.7.
- The deepest position is middle-order batter, with 18 to choose from for 3 places. The thinnest is fast bowler, with 5 for 3 places.
- Left out: Doug Walters has the best batting average of anyone left out (48.3, 74 Tests, middle-order batter), and Jeff Thomson the best bowling average (28, 51 Tests, fast bowler). An average is only part of a rating, which also counts how often a player takes wickets or scores hundreds, and how long he lasted.
- Their Test careers run from 1954 (Garfield Sobers's debut year) to 1993.
- 1 of these eleven is also in the all-time XI: Sunil Gavaskar.
- Compared with the XI of the Legends era, 1 player stays: Sunil Gavaskar.
How this XI was picked
Pool by position: 9 openers, 18 middle-order batters, 6 wicketkeepers, 5 all-rounders, 6 spinners, 5 fast bowlers.
Our ratings use seven career measures. Openers, middle-order batters and wicketkeepers are rated on batting average, runs per player-match, century rate. Spinners and fast bowlers are rated on bowling average, wickets per bowler-match, five-wicket-haul rate, ten-wicket-match rate. All-rounders are rated on all seven. Every player is ranked against the whole database, and players with short careers are weighted toward the average so a hot streak cannot outrank a long career.
The XI takes the highest-rated players at each position, then uses whichever of the three XI shapes in the game rates best as a team. Ratings are not shown here: draft your own XI to see them.
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