Test XI, by our ratings
Best Test XI of the 1980s
Players are included if they played at least 4 years of Test cricket in the 1980s and have at least 50 Tests: 65 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 6 nations: Australia (4), Pakistan (2), West Indies (2), England (1), India (1), New Zealand (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 | Graham Gooch | opener | England | Legends, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s | 118 Tests; 8,900 runs at 42.6, 20 hundreds |
| 3 | Greg Chappell | middle-order batter | Australia | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 87 Tests; 7,110 runs at 53.9, 24 hundreds |
| 4 | Allan Border | middle-order batter | Australia | 1980s, 1990s | 156 Tests; 11,174 runs at 50.6, 27 hundreds |
| 5 | Steve Waugh | middle-order batter | Australia | 1980s, 1990s, 2000s | 168 Tests; 10,927 runs at 51.1, 32 hundreds |
| 6 | Jeff Dujon | wicketkeeper | West Indies | Legends, 1980s | 81 Tests; 3,322 runs at 31.9, 5 hundreds; 272 dismissals |
| 7 | Richard Hadlee | all-rounder | New Zealand | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 86 Tests; 3,124 runs at 27.2, 2 hundreds; 431 wickets at 22.3, 36 five-wicket hauls |
| 8 | Iqbal Qasim | spinner | Pakistan | 1980s | 50 Tests; 171 wickets at 28.1, 8 five-wicket hauls |
| 9 | Malcolm Marshall | fast bowler | West Indies | Legends, 1980s | 81 Tests; 376 wickets at 20.9, 22 five-wicket hauls |
| 10 | Dennis Lillee | fast bowler | Australia | Legends, 1970s, 1980s | 70 Tests; 355 wickets at 23.9, 23 five-wicket hauls |
| 11 | Wasim Akram | fast bowler | Pakistan | Legends, 1980s, 1990s | 104 Tests; 414 wickets at 23.6, 25 five-wicket hauls |
Next in line
| Player | Position | Nation | Career Test stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon Greenidge | opener | West Indies | 108 Tests; 7,558 runs at 44.7, 19 hundreds |
| Javed Miandad | middle-order batter | Pakistan | 124 Tests; 8,832 runs at 52.6, 23 hundreds |
| Rod Marsh | wicketkeeper | Australia | 96 Tests; 3,633 runs at 26.5, 3 hundreds; 356 dismissals |
| Imran Khan | all-rounder | Pakistan | 88 Tests; 3,807 runs at 37.7, 6 hundreds; 362 wickets at 22.8, 23 five-wicket hauls |
| Abdul Qadir | spinner | Pakistan | 67 Tests; 236 wickets at 32.8, 15 five-wicket hauls |
| Courtney Walsh | fast bowler | West Indies | 132 Tests; 519 wickets at 24.4, 22 five-wicket hauls |
What stands out
- Between them the eleven played 1,126 Tests. Steve Waugh has the most (168) and Iqbal Qasim the fewest (50).
- The best batting average in this XI is Greg Chappell's 53.9, and the best bowling average is Malcolm Marshall's 20.9.
- The deepest position is middle-order batter, with 27 to choose from for 3 places. The thinnest is fast bowler, with 11 for 3 places.
- Left out: Javed Miandad has the best batting average of anyone left out (52.6, 124 Tests, middle-order batter), and Joel Garner the best bowling average (21, 58 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 1970 (Greg Chappell's debut year) to 2004.
- 2 of these eleven are also in the all-time XI: Sunil Gavaskar and Malcolm Marshall.
- Compared with the XI of the 1970s, 3 players stay: Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee.
How this XI was picked
Pool by position: 11 openers, 27 middle-order batters, 6 wicketkeepers, 5 all-rounders, 5 spinners, 11 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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