Cricket: Ex-NZ opener among world's 'most boring' batsmen

Former New Zealand opener Bruce Edgar features prominently in a shortlist of international cricket's most boring batsmen.

A column on the Cricinfo website unveiled the slowest-scoring batsmen in the game's history, with Edgar the worst in one-day internationals among batsmen to have scored more than 1000 runs.

The Wellington left-hander was also the fifth slowest in tests although ball-faced statistics in test matches aren't all available before the 1970s.

Edgar, who played 64 one-day internationals, had a strike rate of 49.23 runs per 100 balls. That came from 1814 runs off 3685 ball, or just under three runs per over.

Former England captain Mike Brearley didn't reach 1000 runs in his one-day international career but had a slower strike rate of 45.54. His 510 runs coming off 1120 balls.

Edgar scored 1958 test runs off 6105 balls for a strike rate of 32.07 but he wasn't in the same slowcoach class as three Englishmen in the longer form of the game.

The slowest was Bob Taylor, the England wicketkeeper of the 1970s and 80s, who faced 4260 balls for his 1156 runs at a rate of 27.14 runs per 100 balls.

Brearley was next slowest with a strike rate of 29.80 runs per 100 balls and Chris Tavare third with 30.60.

Bill Woodfull, the former Australian captain, comes next with 31.12.

The lack of statistics before the 1970s may well deny some other legendary England stonewallers their place on the list.

William Scotton once carried his bat through a first-class innings and scored nine not out while Trevor Bailey once scored 68 in 458 minutes against Australia at Brisbane in 1958-59.

- NZPA