Top 5 number 4 New Zealand batsmen of all time

New Zealand is among the younger Test-playing nations, having played its first Test in 1930 and for a long time in its history, the cricket team struggled to compete.

They won their first Test in 1956 and it is interesting to note, that it was around that time that many fine batsmen emerged and made the Test side a competitive unit.

Over the course of its history, New Zealand has had plenty of fine batsmen and that is true for the hugely important number 4 position as well.

Many of them have gone on to become among the best batsmen in the world and here is a look at 5 of the finest.

#5 Brian Hastings

The former New Zealand batsman only played 31 Test matches for his country between 1969 and 1976, but that was primarily because Brian Hastings got selected 11 years into his first-class debut.

However, that did not deter him from becoming one of New Zealand's most prolific number 4 batsmen of all time. Hastings was an excellent timer of the ball and was particularly good with the horizontal bat shots, namely the cut.

He was an excellent hooker as well. The right-hander was generally excellent against anything pitched on the leg stump.

He batted at number 4 in 18 Tests and scored 869 runs at an average of 33.42. He made 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries.

#4 John Reid

It is a well-known fact that a number 4 batsman needs to have an excellent attacking game if he is to succeed in his position and in that regard, former New Zealand batsman John Reid was certainly not lacking in any way.

He played 58 Tests for New Zealand between 1949 and 1965 and out of those, the right-hander batted at number 4 in 35 Test matches.

Reid's stroke-full batting provided New Zealand with an excellent counterattacking batsman in the middle-order in their early years as a Test nation.

In those 35 Test matches, Reid made 1993 runs at an average of just short of 40 and scored 4 centuries, in addition to 13 half-centuries.

#3 Stephen Fleming

He is regarded as one of the best captains that New Zealand ever had but what may often be overlooked is that fact that Stephen Fleming was also one of the best batsmen in the side throughout the course of his 14-year long career (1994-2008).

He played at number 3 during the first half of his career that spanned 111 Test matches, but in 58 of those, the left-hander played at number 4. Fleming was one of the most elegant batsmen to have played for New Zealand and although he had his fair share of struggles against the swinging ball, he overcame them to nail down a place at number 4.

In those 58 games at number 4, Fleming made 2902 runs at an average of 36.27 and scored only 2 hundreds. However, he did make 26 half-centuries and that perhaps indicates that Fleming did not always convert the starts into big scores.

#2 Martin Crowe

When Martin Crowe debuted for New Zealand just a few days short of his 20th birthday, he was already hailed as the next big thing in cricket and his 77 Test career from 1982 to 1995 did not disappoint.

In the 1980s, the right-hander was among the best batsmen in the world and that was primarily because his game hardly had any significant flaws. He had the defensive technique to counter any kind of bowling attack, he could play all strokes in the book, he was excellent against spin and lastly, he has the appetite for a contest.

He played at number 4 in 67 Test matches. Crowe is the 2nd highest run-scorer at the position for New Zealand with an aggregate of 4841 runs at an average of 49.39. Throughout the course of his career, he remained New Zealand's most important batsman and more often than not, the team did well when he got going.

He scored 16 centuries and 16 half-centuries.

#1 Ross Taylor

He is, without a doubt, the best New Zealand of the modern era and although Kane Williamson might usurp the crown eventually, Ross Taylor will certainly go down in history as one of the nation's finest. He debuted in 2007 and over the next decade, he has played in 83 Test matches for New Zealand.

In 77 of those, he played at number 4 and has been one of the country's finest batsman over the last decade or so.

Taylor does not have an orthodox technique but he has used his homegrown technique to great effect all over the world and scored runs. He is primarily an attacking batsman and a career strike rate of almost 60 is proof of the fact that he scores at a fair clip. So, once he is set, he can be an extremely damaging proposition for the opposition.

In 77 Tests at number 4, Taylor has made a total of 5707 runs at a world-class average of 51.41 and also notched up 16 centuries, along with 24 half-centuries.