Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
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- Oct 1, 2012
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It is amazing that some of the best batsmen of all time have averaged more overseas than at home.In the case of Australia both Alan Border at 56.57 and Steve Waugh at 55.5 have averaged more away than at home while for Viv Richards unlike Lara and Sobers or Greenidge has a higher average overseas than at home.For South Africa Graeme Smith at 54.02 and A.B Devilliers at 50.68 championed the cause overseas more than at home.For India Sachin Tendulkar at 55.44 , Rahul Dravid at 57.12,Mohinder Amarnath at 51 and Sunil Gavaskar at 52.11 continued the thread and for England it was Ken Barrington and in the pre-war era Walter Hammond.In contrast Ricky Ponting,Greg Chappell,Gary Sobers ,Graeme Pollock and Brian Lara averaged more at home than away.What was remarkable in Waugh and Border is that they averaged over 12 runs more away than at home which was considerably more than Tendulkar,Gavaskar,Viv Richards etc.
It is possible that both Waugh and Border averaged less in Australia because the wickets were considerably quicker at home and their batting style was more suited to the turning tracks in the sub -continents and the seaming condition sin England.The fast bouncy wickets of Australia and seaming surfaces of England seemed more favourable than the home West Indian tracks for Viv Richards.Border and Waugh averaged around 45 at home and about 56-57 abroad while Viv averaged around 52 away adding world series cricket supertests.Rahul Dravid averaged over 57 overseas ,more than Tendulkar but with a considerably lesser aggregate and number of centuries.Difficult to guage why Dravid was more prolific overseas but I feel because he was more the player for the crisis and the same was the case with Mohinder Amarnath.Gavaskar had to carry the team's responsibility on his shoulders more than at home and thus may have performed better.For Tendulkar it was sheer class.Arguably the seaming and bouncy South African wickets were harder to tackle than wickets away apart from Australia which is why Smith was less prolific at home.
However never forget that Border and Waugh were at their best on the quick West Indian pitches in 1984 and 1995.Border averaged over 74 and steve over 80.Both played the Calypsos better on their tracks than their home pitches in Australia.Infact adding Kerry Packer supertests the same would apply to Greg Chappell who scored 521 runs at average of 69 in 1979 in the Carribean.Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 averaged 66.8 in the Carribean while in India did not average more than 20.Morally Clive Lloyd fared as well overseas as t home and played Australia better overseas than at home if you remember 1975-76,79-80,81-92 and 84-85 series.
In this light Viv Richards has overshadowed compatriot Brian Lara considerably who averaged just over 40 overseas ,14 less than his overall test average. Gary Sobers averaged around 50 away ,around 7 -8 runs less than his overall test average of 57.78 Alan Border and Steve Waugh in the same respect have overshadowed Ricky Ponting and Greg Chappell.
It is arguable that for an Australian it may be a greater test to be prolific at home with the greater pace and bounce but then again wickets are more unpredictable in West Indies,South Africa ,the sub-continent or England.Wickets have slowed down considerably in the Caribbean but in the 160's and 70's or 80's they were as quick as anywhere with a more uneven bounce than Australia.South African batsmen in recent times have been more comfortable against Australia away than at home .
This makes us ask the question whether overseas record always more significant in analysing the greatness of a batsmen.I would like pak passion viewers to ponder on this pointDoes this criteria make Waugh and Border ahead of Greg Chappell and Ponting or Viv Richards ahead of Lara and Sobers?Morally probably not.Arguably the criteria is most relevant to the sub -continent as the 3 greatest Indian batsmen of all time had better records overseas.
It is possible that both Waugh and Border averaged less in Australia because the wickets were considerably quicker at home and their batting style was more suited to the turning tracks in the sub -continents and the seaming condition sin England.The fast bouncy wickets of Australia and seaming surfaces of England seemed more favourable than the home West Indian tracks for Viv Richards.Border and Waugh averaged around 45 at home and about 56-57 abroad while Viv averaged around 52 away adding world series cricket supertests.Rahul Dravid averaged over 57 overseas ,more than Tendulkar but with a considerably lesser aggregate and number of centuries.Difficult to guage why Dravid was more prolific overseas but I feel because he was more the player for the crisis and the same was the case with Mohinder Amarnath.Gavaskar had to carry the team's responsibility on his shoulders more than at home and thus may have performed better.For Tendulkar it was sheer class.Arguably the seaming and bouncy South African wickets were harder to tackle than wickets away apart from Australia which is why Smith was less prolific at home.
However never forget that Border and Waugh were at their best on the quick West Indian pitches in 1984 and 1995.Border averaged over 74 and steve over 80.Both played the Calypsos better on their tracks than their home pitches in Australia.Infact adding Kerry Packer supertests the same would apply to Greg Chappell who scored 521 runs at average of 69 in 1979 in the Carribean.Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 averaged 66.8 in the Carribean while in India did not average more than 20.Morally Clive Lloyd fared as well overseas as t home and played Australia better overseas than at home if you remember 1975-76,79-80,81-92 and 84-85 series.
In this light Viv Richards has overshadowed compatriot Brian Lara considerably who averaged just over 40 overseas ,14 less than his overall test average. Gary Sobers averaged around 50 away ,around 7 -8 runs less than his overall test average of 57.78 Alan Border and Steve Waugh in the same respect have overshadowed Ricky Ponting and Greg Chappell.
It is arguable that for an Australian it may be a greater test to be prolific at home with the greater pace and bounce but then again wickets are more unpredictable in West Indies,South Africa ,the sub-continent or England.Wickets have slowed down considerably in the Caribbean but in the 160's and 70's or 80's they were as quick as anywhere with a more uneven bounce than Australia.South African batsmen in recent times have been more comfortable against Australia away than at home .
This makes us ask the question whether overseas record always more significant in analysing the greatness of a batsmen.I would like pak passion viewers to ponder on this pointDoes this criteria make Waugh and Border ahead of Greg Chappell and Ponting or Viv Richards ahead of Lara and Sobers?Morally probably not.Arguably the criteria is most relevant to the sub -continent as the 3 greatest Indian batsmen of all time had better records overseas.
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