When No. 11 had an average of 50

When Dale Steyn was lbw to Andrew McDonald in the final innings of the third Test in Sydney, everyone's attention was concentrated on South Africa's dressing room. Would Graeme Smith bat despite injuries to try and draw the Test? Out he came at No. 11, with one hand broken, the other's elbow injured, with a Test average of over 50. Smith was the third batsman with a 50-plus average to bat at No. 11. The other two were George Headley and Denis Compton.

In his only Test as captain of West Indies, Headley batted last in the second innings against England in Barbados because of a back strain. Averaging 65.57 at the time, he was unbeaten on 7 in a last-wicket stand of 23 that stretched England's target to 395.

Compton was forced down the order in the first Ashes Test in 1954. He had run into a wooden fence while fielding on the first morning and had broken a bone in his left hand. He batted at No. 11, against medical advice, because England were struggling in reply to Australia's 601, and remained not out on 2 as his team was dismissed for 190. In the second innings he batted at No. 10 as England were beaten by an innings and 154 runs.

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Strugging with a bad knee, Chris Cairns was the last man in New Zealand's seemingly impossible run-chase against England in Christchurch in 2002. He joined Nathan Astle when New Zealand needed 217 to win and played a small part in one of the most audacious Test partnerships. Cairns contributed an unbeaten 23 to a last-wicket stand of 118 off 69 balls. Astle did most of the hitting, reaching his double-century off only 153 balls, the fastest in Test cricket. New Zealand, however, fell 98 runs short.

Australian opener Rick McCosker's average was around 49 heading into the centenary Test against England at the MCG. He fractured his jaw in the first innings, when a Bob Willis delivery went off his hand onto his face, and couldn't bat higher than No. 10 in the second. McCosker began his innings with the score on 353 for 8 and scored 25 to help take the total past 400. Australia eventually won by 45 runs.

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Compton's broken hand prevented him from making a contribution of note the one time each he batted at Nos. 10 and 11, and he failed in his only innings at No. 9 as well. Averaging 58 at the time, Compton was dismissed for a first-ball duck as England fell 70 runs short of their target on a sticky wicket against Australia in Brisbane in 1950.

If we remove our qualification of at least 20 innings in a career, the batsman with the highest average to have batted at No. 9 is Albert Trott. He had an average of 205 in his third Test against England at the MCG in 1895. Before that match, he had scored an unbeaten 38 and 72 not out in the third Test in Adelaide, and another unbeaten 85 in Sydney. However, his average plummeted in the Melbourne Test because he was dismissed for 10 and 0. It was the last Test Trott played for Australia but he went on to play two Tests for England against South Africa in 1899.

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The first time Len Hutton batted at No. 8 was against West Indies at Old Trafford in 1950. In the first innings he was struck on the hand by Hines Johnson and had to retire, and although he returned at the fall of the sixth wicket to extend his score from 22 to 39, he was unfit to open in the second. He came out to bat with England on 151 for 6 and helped them reach 288 by scoring 45. Hutton batted at No. 8 again a few months later in Brisbane, but his valiant 62 in the second innings was not enough to prevent a 70-run defeat.

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