The year of the No. 4 batsman

Over the last few years the likes of Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting have kept the flag flying high for No. 3 batsmen, but 2007 was quite different. Dravid struggled through most of the 12 months, managing just 577 runs - a third of which came against Bangladesh - while Ponting had an ordinary year as well, not getting to a single century in seven innings. Kumar Sangakkara did his best to prop up the cause of the No. 3 with an astounding 968 runs from nine innings, but 2007 was the year of the No. 4 batsman in both forms of the game.

Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene were the key Test batsmen at No. 4. Kallis was the leading run-scorer at that position, and the only one to get more than 1000, scoring his 1067 runs at an average of nearly 89, while Jayawardene was even more prolific, averaging more than 98 from No. 4. There were other contributors too: Michael Hussey and Younis Khan averaged more than 70 when they came in at two down, Sachin Tendulkar and Kevin Pietersen scored at more than 50 per innings, but the only batsman who averaged more than 100 from that position was one who made a glorious comeback to international cricket: Sourav Ganguly played four times at No. 4, and averaged 105.50, including his highest Test score of 239 against Pakistan in Bangalore.

Overall, No. 4 batsmen averaged more than 56 in 2007, a significant rise from the 48.33 they managed in 2006, while the No. 3s only managed 42.53 runs per innings, a considerable fall from 51.69 the previous year. The openers didn't have a good time either, with Herschelle Gibbs, Daren Ganga, Andrew Strauss, Shahriar Nafees and Javed Omar all pulling down the overall average considerably.

Mohammad Yousuf, Scott Styris and Michael Clarke led the way for No.4 batsmen in ODIs. Clarke led the aggregate with 891 runs, but Yousuf's average of 62.57 was the highest among No. 4 batsmen who scored at least 500 runs in the year.

Ponting had a glorious year in ODIs to prop up the cause for the No. 3, with 1419 runs at more than 83, but there wasn't much support forthcoming from the other No. 3s. Sri Lanka's two batting stars both struggled: Sangakkara averaged 26 while Jayawardene was marginally worse at 23.

Sangakkara was also around to prop up the cause of the left-handers in 2007. Thanks to him, and others like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Phil Jaques, Hussey and Ganguly, the left-handers finished another year ahead of their right-hand counterparts. Taking only top-order contributions into account (batsmen in the top seven), the lefties scored five runs more per dismissal in Tests.

The story is slightly different in ODIs, though. Ponting excelled, as did Andrew Symonds, Sachin Tendulkar, Kallis and Yousuf. Matthew Hayden, Chanderpaul, Yuvraj Singh and Ganguly had a splendid year in one-day internationals, but they fell marginally short of beating the right-handers' average of 32.40.

The year 2007 was also a great one for fast bowlers: they took more than twice the number of wickets that the spinners managed in Tests, and conceded four fewer runs per wicket. Dale Steyn, with 44 wickets in seven Tests, and Brett Lee (28 wickets in four) were the leaders of the pace pack, but Zaheer Khan, Makhaya Ntini and Stuart Clark were all worthy contributors. The spin department was led - as usual - by Muttiah Muralitharan, who averaged 22 per wicket despite a poor series in Australia. Anil Kumble took as many wickets in the year as Murali (49), but the surprise of the year was South Africa's Paul Harris, whose 29 wickets in 2007 came at less than 24 apiece.

Glenn McGrath led the way in ODIs and ensured he signed off from international cricket on a high. His 39 wickets in the year came at less than 19 apiece, and his wickets tally was exceeded only by one fast bowler, Zaheer Khan, who finished the year with 40.

Dravid didn't make it to the top of the run-scorers' list in 2007, but his persistent blocking through most of the year put him on top of the charts for the highest percentage of dot-balls played in Tests in the year. Among batsmen who played at least 1000 deliveries in 2007, Dravid's percentage of 79.17 is the highest: he remained scoreless from 1148 of the 1450 balls he played. He'll gladly exchange the top spot on this list for something more prestigious in 2008, though.