Partnership (cricket)

A partnership is a term used in cricket, that usually refers to the two batters and the runs they score together, including extras. Two batters bat in a partnership, although only one is a striker at any time.^[1] The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close, usually due to victory being achieved, a declaration, a time or over limit being reached, the match being abandoned. In exceptional cases, if one of the original batters are injured, a player may run between the wickets on behalf of the injured batter. However, any runs scored by the injured batter will be recorded as being in the partnership of the two original batters.^[2] A partnership may also refer to two bowlers bowling from each end of the wicket.^[3]

Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar batting in a partnership.

Scoreboard showing runs scored by the current partnership (25), consisting of 16 by Sammy, 8 by Ramdin (out of his 27 total), and 1 extra.

Strategy in cricket

Strong batting cohesion in partnerships is widely considered to be an important aspect of cricket. Generally speaking, top-order batters are superior to low-order batters; therefore, partnerships are usually greater when between two top-order batters, although it is relatively common for a lower-order batter with good defence to intelligently coordinate strike rotation to preserve wickets in hand and keep runs ticking over, a strategy that is common in both one-day cricket and Test cricket. Many believe that a key to a successful partnership is when to batters have differing playing styles.^[4] For instance, Marcus Trescothick, known for aggressive style of batting,^[5] and Mike Atherton,^[6] known for a defensive approach, formed successful opening partnerships for England. Likewise, batters differing physical appearance may also contribute to a successful partnership. An example of this is Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. Crawley is a tall right-handed batter, whereas Duckett is a much shorter left-handed batter.^[7] It is encouraged that they rotate the strike, allowing each other to face the bowler regularly, and effective communication in calling runs is considered preferable for a successful partnership.^[8][9]

Lower-order partnerships are usually much smaller than those for early partnerships.^[10] In certain scenarios, middle- and low-order batters often tend to score at a higher strike rate.^{[citation needed]} This is to score as many runs as possible before running out of batting partners, a tactic usually employed when a Test team is considering a declaration or when a one-day innings is closing in on its conclusion.^[11] Batters such as Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Flintoff are widely regarded as some of the best middle-order batters.^[12] Similarly, in a situation were there are no recognised batters remaining, tail-end batters may often play aggressively, with the purpose of more runs before the team is all out. Another example, as alluded to earlier, is where there is one not-out recognised batter and one tail-end batter; in this case, the recognised may often seek to be on strike as much as possible. A specific example of this is in Test cricket was when Ben Stokes and Jack Leach scored a crucial partnership of 75 to win a match at Headingley during the 2019 Ashes Series.^[13]

In red-ball cricket

In test and first-class cricket, during opening partnerships, the primary focus is often on seeing off the new ball. In later partnerships, the emphasis shifts towards consolidation, facing an aging ball, spin bowling, and eventually the second new ball.

The importance of batting in partnership becomes even more crucial when only one recognized quality batsman remains. In such cases, their responsibility includes guiding the lower-order batsmen while attempting to score as many runs as possible or simply trying to save the game. Minimizing risk is vital, often achieved by exposing the lesser batsmen to as little bowling as possible. Boundaries and twos are preferred, and singles are avoided, especially in the early parts of an over. However, it may be necessary to score a single or three runs on the last ball of the over to counteract the change of bowling ends.

In white-ball cricket

In t20 and ODI cricket batters will often look to score at a higher strike rate. This is more apparent in the powerplay.

Windies Team hold the record of highest partnership against Zimbabwe at canberra on 24 Feb 2015. MN Samuels, Chris Gayle scored 372 for 2nd wicket.^[14]

Effect on the opposition

Large partnerships do more than simply add runs to the scoreboard, they may also serve to exhaust and demoralise the fielding team. Both of these were major factors at the famous Test match at Eden Gardens in 2001, when India's V. V. S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid put on a fifth-wicket stand of 376 runs, staying at the crease for the entire fourth day's play without being dismissed. Despite having forced their opponents to follow on, Steve Waugh's highly regarded Australians were left emotionally and physically drained, slumping to a shock-heavy (171 run) defeat. Even if nowhere near as damaging numerically, larger-than-expected last wicket stands can still be very demoralising, especially because as soon as the Number 11 batsman walks out of the pavilion, many of the fielders expect to be batting within minutes and start their mental preparations. If the last wicket partnership lasts much longer than they expect, it has an adverse effect on their preparation and composure, as well as their energy level deteriorating from extra time on the field. It is also damaging to the confidence of the bowlers if they are unable to dismiss a team's worst batsman relatively easily. A good example of this came in the First Test between Australia and New Zealand at Brisbane Cricket Ground in 2004. The Kiwis performed well for the first two days, and while the Australians did recover strongly on the third, the New Zealanders were still well in the hunt when Glenn McGrath, the Australian fast bowler and notoriously poor batsman, came to the crease to accompany fellow tail-ender Jason Gillespie with nine wickets down. Incredibly, the pair put on 114 runs, both achieving half centuries (McGrath's first in a long Test career in which he has never averaged more than 8 with the bat). The humiliated New Zealanders lost energy and focus, and when they finally removed McGrath and went in to bat, their batting order was devastated, collapsing to 76 all out, giving Australia an innings victory with a day to spare. During the second Test of the 2005 Ashes, Australia's tailenders Shane Warne, Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee famously held out during their second innings after the top order had been decimated by England's bowlers and nearly won a tightly contested match, losing by a mere 2 runs, the narrowest margin in Ashes history.

Bowling partnerships

Two bowlers may be said to be bowling in tandem when they bowl all of a certain set of consecutive overs.^[15]

James Anderson and Stuart Broad hold the record for most wickets in a bowling partnership. They have taken 1039 wickets together.

Test record partnerships by wicket

Correct as of 11 October 2024^[16]

Wicket	Runs	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Season
1st	415	Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith	South Africa	Bangladesh	Chattogram	2008
2nd	576	Roshan Mahanama and Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	India	Colombo (RPS)	1997
3rd	624	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Colombo (SSC)	2006
4th	454	Joe Root and Harry Brook	England	Pakistan	Multan	2024
5th	405	Donald Bradman and Sid Barnes	Australia	England	Sydney	1946/47
6th	399	Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow	England	South Africa	Cape Town	2016
7th	347	Clairmonte Depeiaza and Denis Atkinson	West Indies	Australia	Bridgetown	1954/55
8th	332	Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad	England	Pakistan	Lord's	2010
9th	195	Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox	South Africa	Pakistan	Johannesburg	1998
10th	198	Joe Root and James Anderson	England	India	Nottingham	2014

Top 10 Test partnerships (for any wicket)

Correct as of 11 October 2024^[17]

Runs	Wicket	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Season
624	3rd	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Colombo (SSC)	2006
576	2nd	Roshan Mahanama and Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	India	Colombo (RPS)	1997
467	3rd	Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe	New Zealand	Sri Lanka	Wellington	1990/91
454	4th	Joe Root and Harry Brook	England	Pakistan	Multan	2024
451	2nd	Donald Bradman and Bill Ponsford	Australia	England	The Oval	1934
451	3rd	Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad	Pakistan	India	Hyderabad	1982/83
449	4th	Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh	Australia	West Indies	Hobart	2015/16
446	2nd	Conrad Hunte and Gary Sobers	West Indies	Pakistan	Kingston, Jamaica	1957/58
438	2nd	Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	2004
437	4th	Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Karachi	2008/09

* = unbroken partnership

First-class record partnerships by wicket

Correct as of 1 November 2021^[18]

Wicket	Runs	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Season
1st	561	Waheed Mirza and Mansoor Akhtar	Karachi Whites	Quetta	Karachi	1976/77
2nd	580	Rafatullah Mohmand and Aamer Sajjad	WAPDA	SSGC	Sheikhupura	2009/10
3rd	624	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Colombo (SSC)	2006
4th	577	Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad	Baroda	Holkar	Baroda	1946/47
5th	520*	Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja	Saurashtra	Orissa	Rajkot	2008/09
6th	487*	George Headley and Clarence Passailaigue	Jamaica	Lord Tennyson's XI	Kingston, Jamaica	1931/32
7th	460	Bhupinder Singh and Pankaj Dharmani	Punjab	Delhi	Delhi	1994/95
8th	433	Arthur Sims and Victor Trumper	Australia	Canterbury	Christchurch	1913/14
9th	283	John Chapman and Arnold Warren	Derbyshire	Warwickshire	Blackwell	1910
10th	307	Alan Kippax and Hal Hooker	New South Wales	Victoria	MCG	1928/29

* = unbroken partnership

Top 10 first-class partnerships (for any wicket)

Correct as of 1 November 2021^[19]

Runs	Wicket	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Season
624	3rd	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Colombo (SSC)	2006
594*	3rd	Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne	Maharashtra	Delhi	Mumbai	2016/17
580	2nd	Rafatullah Mohmand and Aamer Sajjad	WAPDA	SSGC	Sheikhupura	2009/10
577	4th	Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad	Baroda	Holkar	Baroda	1946/47
576	2nd	Roshan Mahanama and Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	India	Colombo (RPS)	1997
574*	4th	Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott	Barbados	Trinidad	Port-of-Spain	1945/46
561	1st	Waheed Mirza and Mansoor Akhtar	Karachi Whites	Quetta	Karachi	1976/77
555	1st	Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe	Yorkshire	Essex	Leyton	1932
554	1st	Jack Brown and John Tunnicliffe	Yorkshire	Derbyshire	Chesterfield	1898
539	3rd	Sagar Jogiyani and Ravindra Jadeja	Saurashtra	Gujarat	Surat	2012/13

* = unbroken partnership.

One-Day International record partnerships by wicket

Correct as of 1 November 2021^[20]

Wicket	Runs	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Date
1st	365	John Campbell and Shai Hope	West Indies	Ireland	Dublin	5 May 2019
2nd	372	Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels	West Indies	Zimbabwe	Canberra	24 February 2015
3rd	258	Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin	West Indies	Bangladesh	Basseterre	25 August 2014
4th	275*	Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja	India	Zimbabwe	Cuttack	9 April 1998
5th	256*	David Miller and JP Duminy	South Africa	Zimbabwe	Hamilton	15 February 2015
6th	267*	Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi	New Zealand	Sri Lanka	Dunedin	23 January 2015
7th	177	Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid	England	New Zealand	Birmingham	9 June 2015
8th	202*	Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins	Australia	Afghanistan	Mumbai	7 November 2023
9th	132	Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka	Australia	Melbourne	3 November 2010
10th	106*	Viv Richards and Michael Holding	West Indies	England	Manchester	31 May 1984

* = unbroken partnership

Top 10 One-Day International partnerships (for any wicket)

Correct as of 1 November 2021^[21]

Runs	Wicket	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Date
372	2nd	Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels	West Indies	Zimbabwe	Canberra	23 February 2015
365	1st	John Campbell and Shai Hope	West Indies	Ireland	Dublin	5 May 2019
331	2nd	Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid	India	New Zealand	Hyderabad	8 November 1999
318	2nd	Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid	India	Sri Lanka	Taunton	26 May 1999
304	1st	Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman	Pakistan	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	20 July 2018
292	1st	Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das	Bangladesh	Zimbabwe	Sylhet	6 March 2020
286	1st	Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	England	Leeds	1 July 2006
284	1st	David Warner and Travis Head	Australia	Pakistan	Adelaide	26 January 2017
282*	1st	Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla	South Africa	Bangladesh	Kimberley	15 October 2017
282	1st	Upul Tharanga and Tillekeratne Dilshan	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Pallekele	10 March 2011

* = unbroken partnership

References

1. "Scoring runs Law | MCC". www.lords.org. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
2. "Batter's innings; Runners Law | MCC". www.lords.org. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
3. "Shaheen says partnerships key after Pakistan pacers rattle India". Yahoo News. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
4. "'An opening partner is a bit like your brother'". Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
5. "Record-breaking Trescothick sets up win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
6. Rana, Yaseen (23 March 2019). "Mike Atherton | The Finest English Batsman Of His Era | Wisden Almanack". Wisden. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
7. "'The revolving door closes - Duckett & Crawley here to stay'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
8. "Does strike rotation matter in cricket? Yes, but not in the ways you might think". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
9. "Kartikeya Date: Is there an advantage to having left-right pairs at the crease?". www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
10. "Are late-order batsmen contributing to team scores more today than in the past?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
11. "Jos Buttler: 'I have lived true to what we're trying to do as a team by being really aggressive'". Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
12. "Lower-order batsmen: they wag and how!". Sportstar. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
13. "Ben Stokes century seals historic one-wicket win to keep Ashes alive". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
14. "ODI matches | Partnership records | Highest partnerships for any wicket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
15. "Cricket's deadly bowling duos: Where do James Anderson and Stuart Broad rank?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
16. "Records - Test matches - Partnership records - Highest partnerships by wicket - ESPNcricinfo".
17. "Records - Test matches - Partnership records - Highest partnerships for any wicket - ESPNcricinfo".
18. "Records - First-class matches - Partnership records - Highest partnerships by wicket - ESPNcricinfo".
19. "Records - First-class matches - Partnership records - Highest partnerships for any wicket - ESPNcricinfo".
20. "Records - One-Day Internationals - Partnership records - Highest partnerships by wicket - ESPNcricinfo".
21. "Records - One-Day Internationals - Partnership records - Highest partnerships for any wicket - ESPNcricinfo".

• A few marathon partnerships from The Hindu
• Partnerships from Howstat
• List of record partnerships in Tests from ESPN.com
• Tests - Partnership Records from cricinfo.com
• first-class partnership records from CricketArchive Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine