Take five

When South Africa are three down, who they gonna call? © PA Photos

When History, the judgemental retrospective know-all that it is, casts its long-overdue verdict on the second decade of this millennium, it will no doubt have harsh words for some of this planet's less civil occupants, some queries about whether our great species should have prioritised a cure for malaria over £600 watches that can send an email and tell the time simultaneously, and some bafflement about the continued lack of easily available jetpacks. Most of all, however, it will record this decade for all eternity as The Era of the No. 5 Batsman.

Since January 1, 2010 (and until May 5, 2015), No. 5s in Test cricket have collectively averaged 45.75 - making the position the highest averaging in the batting order, a status it has never held previously in the 14 decades in which humanity's greatest creation has entertained the known universe.

This golden era of the Fifth Man In came to fruition in 2008, since when No. 5s have averaged 46.51, and scored a century every 2.6 Tests. No. 5s have collectively averaged more than 46 in six of the past eight years; they had done so only twice before, in 1949 and 1982. All this suggests that the departure of George W Bush from the White House finally freed up No. 5 Test batsmen to express themselves at the crease.

The nearest challengers to the No. 5 in that time have been Nos. 4 (average 42.25) and 3 (42.62). Fives are averaging almost 8.4 runs more than they did from 1980 to 2007 (38.11) an improvement of 22.3%. Numbers one to four, by contrast, are averaging 39.7 since 2008, compared with 38.3 in the 1980-2007 period - an improvement of just 3.6%. Truly these are blessed days to be striding to the crease at the fall of the third wicket.

Before the 2010s, only once in the past 100 years had No. 5 been even the second most productive position in a Test match decade - in the 1990s, when the era of the specialist No. 5 began, as the likes of Steve Waugh, Mohammad Azharuddin and Andy Flower began to carve the path followed by the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Michael Clarke and Misbah-ul-Haq, and now pursued by modern batting lynchpins such as AB de Villiers (averaging 65.55 at five this decade), Joe Root (85) and Steven Smith (66.55).

These are six of the nine batsmen from eight different countries who are averaging 50 or more from at least 15 innings at No. 5 this decade (with three more over 45). No. 5 has become the most important position in the batting order, where a team's most valuable and flexible batsman can repair early damage, consolidate a promising beginning, or launch modern-era devastation.

Before he was an umpire, S Venkataraghavan batted five times at five and scored… no runs © Getty Images

This long-overlooked position, which first sprang to prominence when George Ulyett clobbered a match-clinching 63 in the second ever Test in 1877, has never been healthier.

No. 5 facts

• When Viv Richards batted at No. 5 against England in Barbados in April 1990, he became only the fourth player to have batted 50 times in that position, after Keith Miller, Colin Cowdrey and Clive Lloyd. By the end of the 1990s, seven more players had joined him on the list; now there are 26 players on it. In large part, this has been facilitated by the proliferation of Test cricket, but it also reveals the increasing specialisation of the position. (By comparison, the figures for the number of players who have batted 50 or more times in a specific top-seven batting positions are as follows: No. 1: 18 players by 1990, 23 more since; No. 2: eight and 19; No. 3: 15 and 20; No. 4: 17 and 19; No. 5: three and 23; No. 6: three and 12; No. 7: six and 15. So No. 5 had the equal fewest 50-innings players up to 1990, and has had the equal most since then.)

• There is no contest for the worst No. 5 in Test history - Indian tweakmaster and undisputed Nebuchadnezzar of the Nonchalant Umpiring Finger-Raise, S Venkataraghavan . Five innings at No. 5: zero runs. Venkat peaked early as a five. His undefeated two-minute nought in the dying embers of a draw with New Zealand in March 1965 raised false hopes of the undismissable No. 5 he might have proved to be (he was promoted from ten to five for no discernible reason; one can only assume he had confidently barked in the dressing room: "182 to win in two minutes? Well if none of you guys fancy a crack at it, I sure do.") Thereafter, however, three nightwatchman innings at No. 5 all resulted not only in ducks but also in a failure to last until stumps. His other outing in this legendary batting position was in the infamous Jamaica Test of April 1976, when India had five men absent hurt in the second innings. He was bowled by Michael Holding for a duck, thus becoming, we must assume, the only man in top-level cricket history to come in to bat at No. 5 and be last man out for 0.

• Ken Barrington holds the record for most innings at five without a Test hundred. He came in at the fall of the third wicket in 31 innings, and made ten fifties, but had a highest score of 87. In 84 innings at three and four, he reached 50 on 39 occasions, and converted 20 of them into hundreds.

• Don Bradman could have been a decent No. 5, had he not been so busy being a slightly better than decent No. 3. He batted only three times at five for Australia, scoring 123 (his first Test hundred), 304, and 0. His last Test innings at three and five were ducks. His final outings at four, six and seven were, respectively 103, 127 not out, and 270.

Not your average Joe: at No. 5, Root scores 85 per innings © AFP

All-time greatest No. 5s XI 5. AB de Villiers (3574 Test runs at 63.82, 13 hundreds; 1689 ODI runs at 84.45, five hundreds) Ideal man to have at five.

5. Garry Sobers (1895 runs at 59.21, 7 hundreds, 92 wickets at 31.8) A genius anywhere, but particularly at five.

5. Michael Clarke (5936 runs at 61.83, 20 hundreds) Brilliant coming in between numbers four and six.

5. Graham Thorpe (3373 runs at 56.21, 10 hundreds) One of England's best ever No. 5s.

5. Steve Waugh (captain) (6754 runs at 56.28, 24 hundreds, 38 Test wins as captain when batting at five, 29 wickets at 37.0) Perfect batsman to come in at the fall of the third wicket.

5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (6883 runs at 56.41, 19 hundreds) A rock-solid No. 5.

5. Andy Flower (wicketkeeper) (3501 runs at 56.46, nine hundreds, when batting five and keeping) A reassuring presence at three wickets down.

5. Doug Walters (2134 runs at 47.42, five hundreds, including four in one series, 25 wickets at 24.4) Useful fifth bowler. Even more useful fifth batsman.

5. Keith Miller (1973 runs at 41.97, five hundreds, 68 wickets at 22.6) Could bat anywhere between four and six (exclusive).

5. Shakib Al Hasan (1002 Test runs at 47.71, one hundred, 46 Test wickets at 34.9; 3039 ODI runs at 34.93, four hundreds, 138 ODI wickets at 28.2) One of the leading No. 5s in world cricket today.

5. Andrew Flintoff (1749 runs in 48 ODI innings at 46.02, 65 ODI wickets at 23.2) Terrific No. 5 in ODIs.

(All stats correct as on May 5 2015; bowling figures refer only to matches in which the player batted at No. 5. Some ODI No. 5s included for the sake of strengthening the bowling. All selections are legally binding.)

Andy Zaltzman is a stand-up comedian, a regular on BBC Radio 4, and a writer

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