2011 - worst year for the openers

The average opening partnership in Tests in 2011 is 31.70, which is the worst in the last 11 years. 

The bowlers have a better-than-average this year and batting stats have suffered. Openers have been impacted more than the rest as hardly any regular opening pair has a partnership average of 50 or more this year.

In 2011,  the overall batting average for the top seven batsmen was 37, the second-lowest since the beginning of 2001; in 2009 and 2010, it had been greater than 41.

The second lowest opening partnership average is 36.29 in 2006 while the highest being 44.41 in 2009.

Opening partnerships in each year in Tests since 2001

Year	Innings	Runs	Ave stand	100/ 50 stands	Inng per 100
2009	146	6262	44.41	12/ 34	12.17
2004	191	8150	44.05	24/ 27	7.96
2010	157	6730	43.98	19/ 38	8.26
2008	173	7276	42.54	19/ 31	9.11
2003	162	6766	42.28	16/ 25	10.13
2001	199	8086	41.89	25/ 27	7.97
2002	191	7404	40.45	15/ 42	12.73
2005	179	6876	39.06	13/ 40	13.77
2007	117	4311	38.15	9/ 18	13.00
2006	172	6061	36.29	10/ 32	17.20
2011	139	4343	31.70	9/ 22	15.44

The average partnerships for the top seven wickets in 2011 further shows how badly the openers failed scoring as low as the 7th wicket partnership.

Average partnerships for each wicket in Tests in 2011

Wicket	Innings	Runs	Ave stand	100/ 50 stands
1st	139	4343	31.70	9/ 22
2nd	138	5207	38.85	8/ 37
3rd	135	6141	46.52	15/ 32
4th	132	5794	45.98	20/ 20
5th	126	4779	38.23	13/ 19
6th	124	4258	36.08	10/ 25
7th	117	3451	31.09	8/ 15

This stats show that only two sides managed more than 40 runs per dismissal at the top of the order in 2011: Zimbabwe and England, who averaged 42.63. 

Opening pairs in Tests in 2011 (Qual: 5 innings)

Pair	Innings	Runs	Ave stand	100/ 50 stands
Hafeez-Taufeeq	19	587	32.61	2/ 2
Cook-Strauss	11	469	42.63	1/ 2
Hughes-Watson	11	438	39.81	1/ 3
Dilshan-Paranavitana	11	419	38.09	1/ 2
Gambhir-Sehwag	9	349	38.77	0/ 4
Mawoyo-Sibanda	6	300	50.00	1/ 2
Guptill-McCullum	8	268	33.50	1/ 0
Rudolph-Smith	5	203	40.60	0/ 1
Paranavitana-Thirimanne	8	184	26.28	0/ 1
Kayes-Tamim	6	176	29.33	0/ 1
Mukund-Vijay	6	55	9.16	0/ 0

Alastair Cook: 927 runs at 84.27, was  the exception