Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
- Runs
- 3,518
- Post of the Week
- 2
Pakapassion posted a blog Bradman v Viv Richards v Tendulkar. In response I felt why names like Sobers,Lara ; Gavaskar or Greg Chappell were excluded.Here I am substantiating my viewpoint on this.In my personal order of merit Lara,Sobers,Gavskar and Greg Chappell were strong contenders.
In pure test cricket personally I feel the likes of Sobers and Lara or even Gavaskar and Greg Chappell could have posed atleast equally if not more a challenge to Bradman for the title of the best batsmen ever,than Viv Richards or Sachin Tendulkar
Sunil Gavaskar opened the batting without wearing a helmet and playing for a relatively weaker team broke all the batting records facing great bowlers like Roberts,Holding,Imran ,Hadlee,Botham ,Wilis etc.Ofcourse he had some luck in the era of WSC packer cricket facing weaker West Indian and Australian attacks but still overall wa sprolific against the likes of Imran Khan.Sometimes it is hard visualizing Bradman even emulate Gavaskar facing the most lethal bowling without a helmet or equaling Gavasakr's 96 on a broken pitch against Pakistan at Bangalore in 1987.In his debut series Gavaskar aggregated a record 774 runs at 154 .80,much better than Bradman's debut.If one makes an equation of the class of bowling faced ,the strength of team played or support from other players,then in test cricket Gavaskar could be more comparable to the Don than Sachin.None of Tendulkar's best tset ining sfeature in the Wisden best 100 while 3 inings of Gavaskar' sdo.Tendulkar has not surapssed Gavaskar's 221 at the Oval or 96 at Bangalore.In 4th innings Gavaskar has overshadowed Tendulkar,which is significant.Unlike Tendulkar Gavaskar scored most of his centuries without the aid of a helmet which is remarkable.
Brian Lara held broke the world record score twice and is the only batsmen ever to reach the milisetone of 400 in test cricket.Lara's 5 best test innings are better than any batsmen ever like his 400,375,277,213 and 153.Lara has also scored his runs at a phenomenal strike rate for his era.On a bad wicket Bradman has not equalled Lara's unbeaten 153 at Barbados in 1999 v Australia,where he singlehandedly took his team home to a famous win.Lara has alos played in an era of considerably beter pace bowling and tackled it beter than nay batsmen ever.After Bradman no batsmen has a higher average percentage score of the team's total like Lara.Like George Headley Lara played for a very weak batting team.Unlike Bradman,Lara played against teams like South Africa ,Sri Lanka and Pakistan .Hard envisaging the Don surpass Brian's unbeaten 153 at Barbados or 221 v Murlitharan .Lara revealed creative genius marginaly more than Bradman and could execute strokes that were surreal.In Anantha Narayana's match performance ratings Lara is only 2nd to Bradman which ***** factors like strength of opposition,state of game,nature of wicket,impact on match. etc.Many opponents prized Lara's wicket marginally more than Sachin's like Glen Mcgrath,Jacques Kallis or even Wasim Akram.Lara could turn the complexion of game and was more mercurial than Tendulkar at his best.I have doubts hwether even Bradma would have surpassed Lara's incredible scoring rate considering the era.
Gary Sobers has been rated by both the Chappell brothers as the best batsmen they ever saw and many opponents rate him the most perfect batsmen they bowled to.Gary morally averaged over 58 in test cricket adding his scores for the rest of the world.Gray had made the then world record score in 1958 at Kingston.More of Gary's centuries or best knocks were scored in a crisis than Viv or Sachin like his 132 in the tried tes in 1961 at Brisbane,113 at Kingston on a broken track in 1968 against England and 254 at Melbourne in1972.Gary faced the best bolwers like Alan Davidson,John Snow,Fred Truemn and Dennis Lillee.
Morally Greg Chappell could well have been the best test batsmen of the 1970's ,arguably the most competitive decade ever in the history of test cricket.Add his scores in Packer cricket and against rest of the world and he would have the highest international test run aggregate of the 1970's and averaged over 55 with 31 test centuries.Greg was more complete than Gavaskar or Viv and the most complete batsmen with Barry Richards of his era.No batsmen was more prolific or averaged more against the great West Indian bolwers of that time as Greg who scored 521 runs at an average of 69 wit 3 centuries in 5 supertests in the West Indies in 1979.Greg wa sthe most prolific batsmen in Kerry Packer WSC cricket aggregating 1416 runs including compiling the highest score of 246 in 1977.78.Greg has the 4th highest average in matches won by any batsmen in the history of test cricket behind only Bradman,Sobers and Inzamam.
ANALYSIS BY ANANTHA NARAYANA
BRIAN LARA
Balls faced information
Balls faced: 19753
Scoring rate: 60.5
Balls faced per inns: 85.1.
Amongst the top batsmen, only Sehwag, Richards and Pietersen are ahead of Lara in the scoring rate measure. The average balls faced per innings is, as expected, on the lower side.
Top 5 innings analysis
Top 5 inns (Runs) : 400 375 277 226 221 Total: 1499 Avge: 299.8
These small analytical segments bring new insights. The first is the average of the top-5 innings played by the concerned batsman. Lara's average of almost 300 is the highest of all batsmen. Next comes Bradman with 292.2 and then comes Sehwag, with 275.2. This confirms Lara's penchant for playing huge innings.
Top 5 inns (Balls): 582 538 372 360 354 Total: 2206 Avge: 441.2
The next one is to look at the top 5 innings in terms of balls faced. The balls played data is available even for many older players. But this is not a complete analysis. Notwithstanding his attacking play, Lara has genuinely played many long innings. His average for the top-5 innings is a huge 441. The leader in this regards is Hutton with 588, followed by Hammond, with 566. Amongst modern batsmen, Jayawardene leads with 463 and Lara comes next. Dravid's average is 438.
Lara as the highest scorer
HS Inns: 65
% of inns: 28.0
HS Runs total: 7613
HS Next Best: 3623
% of Lara's total: 47.6
This is a new piece of analysis. I have determined the number of innings in which Lara was the leading scorer in the innings and worked out this as a % of total innings. More importantly, to get a handle on the level of support, I have added the next highest scores and determined this total as a % of the total of Lara's innings. The numbers are very illuminative.
Lara has top-scored in 28.0% of the innings he played in. His is the highest amongst modern batsmen. Only Gavaskar matches this number. Of course, many old timers have figures in excess of 30, Bradman leading with 37.5%. The matching with Gavaskar indicates how often Lara carried his team.
The next one is an even more enlightening one. This defines the support received. Lara received the least support amongst all batsmen. The next best batsmen have totalled 47.6% of Lara's aggregate, below even half-way stage. He is the only batsman to have received below 50% support. Sehwag is next with 53.5% and then comes Hutton with 53.7%. Just as a comparison, the number for Tendulkar is 65.4% and for Ponting, 64.9%. This is a clear confirmation of how often Lara carried the burden.
Innings break-down
Sub-10 innings: No- 62 % of total-26.7%
Sub-25 innings: No-100 % of total-43.1%
Sub-50 innings: No-147 % of total-63.4%
In this new analysis I look at the pattern of low scores. Lara has had 26.7% of single-digit scores, 43% of scores below 25 and a huge 63.4% of sub-50 scores. This indicates that Lara was not a great starter. I have not looked at all batsmen but Michael Clarke (27.5%) has a higher single-digit component. The older batsmen all have figures below 15%. Sangakkara has a below-20% tally.
Team runs/balls analysis
Runs added with late order batsmen (7-11) : 1487 (25)
Avge runs added with late order batsmen : 59.5
Team runs while at crease : 21448
Batsman's % Runs contribution : 55.7%
Team balls while at crease : 38562
% of balls faced while at crease: 51.2%
Total team runs : 63049
Batsman Runs % : 19.0%
The runs added with late order batsmen are not very high. Lara's average is around 60. Tendulkar is much higher at 69.6. But let me say that 100% data is not available for the batsmen who started the career before 1992 or so.
Lara's overall runs contribution to his team total is a reasonably high 19%. Bradman has contributed 25%. Most batsmen contribute between 15 and 17%. It is understandable that Lara scores 55% of runs while at crease. He outscored his fellow batsmen often.
Innings analysis
Description T I N Runs Avge 100 50 Freq Team-Runs %
Inns 1 58 1 4000 70.18 12 12 4.8 18111 22.1%
Inns 2 72 0 4249 59.01 13 21 5.5 23053 18.4%
Inns 3 56 0 2264 40.43 7 8 8.0 12704 17.8%
Inns 4 46 5 1440 35.12 2 7 23.0 9181 15.7%
The innings runs and averages follow a similar pattern. Most batsmen have high-first, high-second, reasonable-third and average-fourth innings values. Lara is no exception. There are many other top batsmen who have better third and fourth innings figures. Kallis has a third innings average of 68.8 and Gavaskar, a fourth innings average of 58.7.
Home/Away analysis
Home 65 111 5 6217 58.65 17 26 6.5 32020 19.4%
Away 66 121 1 5736 47.80 17 22 7.1 31029 18.5%
This again has the same pattern as most batsmen. Lara has averaged 20% better at home. There are batsmen who have done 30-40% better at home. On the flip side, Cook averages 43.5 at home and 54.3 away. Dravid also averages better away. However no one can beat Barrington who averages 51.2 and 68.9. It is clear that Lara has not set the foreign grounds alight, barring probably Sri Lankan.
GARY SOBERS-FROM CRICINFO BY S.RAJESH
Excluding the first three years of his Test career, when Sobers was still finding his feet in international cricket, he averaged nearly 63 in 79 matches, which was easily the best during that period. England's Ken Barrington was the only other batsman whose average was close to 60. Even Sobers' overall career average of 57.78 is among the very best: with a cut-off of 3000 runs, only five batsmen have done better.
Best Test batsmen between Jan 1958 and Dec 1974 (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Garry Sobers 79 7360 62.90 26/ 27
Ken Barrington 80 6754 59.76 20/ 35
Hanif Mohammad 37 3018 51.15 10/ 11
Doug Walters 50 3869 50.90 12/ 23
Rohan Kanhai 74 6021 49.35 15/ 28
Bob Simpson 50 4045 48.73 8/ 23
Ted Dexter 62 4502 47.89 9/ 27
Geoff Boycott 63 4579 47.69 12/ 26
Highest Test averages in wins (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Don Bradman 30 4813 130.08 23/ 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq 49 4690 78.16 17/ 20
Garry Sobers 31 3097 77.42 12/ 11
SUNIL GAVASKAR -FROM CRICINFO BY S.RAJESH
Sunil Gavaskar's Test career Period Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Debut series 4 774 154.80 4/ 3
July 1971 to Jan 1975 13 693 27.72 1/ 6
Feb 1975 to Jan 1980 45 4434 59.91 18/ 16
Feb 1980 to Sep 1985 47 2939 40.81 7/ 14
Oct 1985 onwards 16 1282 58.27 4/ 6
Career 125 10,122 51.12 34/ 45
Despite having played during a period when run-scoring was considerably more difficult than it is today, Gavaskar achieved some incredible numbers, becoming the first to get to 10,000 Test runs and 30 centuries. During the two decades in which he played, only six batsmen scored more than 4000 runs at a 50-plus average.
Top batsmen between Jan 1970 and Dec 1989 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Javed Miandad 101 7701 57.04 22/ 36
Greg Chappell 87 7110 53.86 24/ 31
Allan Border 111 8488 53.38 23/ 46
Viv Richards 108 7849 51.98 24/ 37
Sunil Gavaskar 125 10,122 51.12 34/ 45
Geoff Boycott 67 5505 50.50 16/ 29
The other aspect of Gavaskar's career that stood out was his ability to play for long periods, especially in the fourth innings of Tests. Several other top-class batsmen have performed below potential in the last innings of Tests, with Tendulkar being the prime example: in 47 such innings he averages less than 38. But Gavaskar had no such problems, averaging 58.25 in 33 innings, which is second only to Boycott among batsmen who scored at least 1000 fourth-innings runs.
One of the features of Gavaskar's batting - and that of India during the period he played in - was the ability to bat many overs in the last innings. When he scored that 221 at The Oval, India batted 150.5 overs, and there were several other instances when the team batted more than 100 overs. (Click here for a Numbers Game column from July 2007 that compares Gavaskar and Tendulkar in fourth innings; while Gavaskar averaged more than 56 in meaningful fourth innings, Tendulkar only managed an average of less than 27.)
Best Test averages in fourth innings (Qual: 1000 runs) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Geoff Boycott 34 1234 58.76 3/ 7
Sunil Gavaskar 33 1398 58.25 4/ 8
Graeme Smith 30 1285 53.54 3/ 8
Gordon Greenidge 38 1383 53.19 3/ 6
Ricky Ponting 38 1311 52.44 4/ 4
Matthew Hayden 39 1287 49.50 1/ 9
Jacques Kallis 41 1212 44.88 1/ 10
Graham Gooch 29 1121 44.84 3/ 5
In fact, Gavaskar was at his most prolific in matches that ended in draws. In the 23 Tests he played that India won, his average was only 43.97, and he scored six hundreds. On the other hand, 22 of his 34 hundreds came in draws, and his average shot up to more than 65 in those matches. Gavaskar remains the only batsman to have scored more than 6000 runs in drawn Tests, with Tendulkar more than 400 runs short of the mark.
Most runs in drawn Tests Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sunil Gavaskar 67 6039 65.64 22/ 25
Sachin Tendulkar 67 5563 67.02 19/ 25
Allan Border 59 5084 68.70 16/ 27
Rahul Dravid 53 4979 68.20 16/ 26
Javed Miandad 62 4570
GREG CHAPPELL-CRICINFO B S.RAJESH
As a No. 4 batsman, though, his stats were outstanding, as he scored more than 4300 runs at an average of almost 60. In the entire history of Test cricket only two batsmen - Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene - have scored 4000-plus runs at a higher average. Among Australian No. 4 batsmen, Greg clearly has the best stats: Mark Waugh has scored more runs but at an average of less than 43, while Allan Border's eight hundreds in 88 innings compare poorly with Greg's 15 in 86.
Highest Test averages at No. 4 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Jacques Kallis 139 7506 63.61 28/ 33
Mahela Jayawardene 140 7689 59.60 25/ 27
Greg Chappell 86 4316 59.12 15/ 19
Sachin Tendulkar 232 12,060 58.26 43/ 49
Javed Miandad 140 6925 54.10 19/ 31
Denis Compton 86 4234 53.59 13/ 20
Inzamam-ul-Haq 98 4867 52.90 15/ 21
Brian Lara 148 7535 51.25 24/ 31
Highest averages in Test wins (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Don Bradman 30 4813 130.08 23/ 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq 49 4690 78.16 17/ 20
Garry Sobers 31 3097 77.42 12/ 11
Greg Chappell 38 3595 70.49 14/ 16
His other great battles came against the pace attack of West Indies, including some of his best and worst moments. In the home series in 1975-76, Chappell scored 702 runs at an average of 117; his aggregate is the highest by an Australian in a series against West Indies, and the fourth-highest by any batsman against them. In 1981-82, though, the story was completely different, as Chappell managed 86 runs in six innings, which included two first-ball ducks. That was easily his worst performance in a series.
Chappell's battles against the West Indies pace attack extended beyond the Test scene; he tackled them in the Supertests in World Series Cricket as well, and performed superbly. In 14 matches he averaged more than 56, which was significantly more than any other Australian batsman.
MADHUSUDHAN RAMAKRISHNAN IN 2010 ON WSC CRICKET IN CRICINFO
Greg Chappell vindicated his status as one of the best players of fast bowing and his tally of over 1400 runs at an average of 56.60 with five centuries put him in a league of his own. The bowling that he faced included the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Imran Khan. Many batsmen wilted in the face of hostile pace bowling and they averaged well below their overall Test averages. David Hookes, on the other hand, despite being fairly new to international cricket, performed superbly in World Series Cricket, but rather surprisingly turned out to be a failure in international cricket after the two years.
WSC was the most difficult test for batsmen due to incredible line up of pace bowlers present then. Many batsmen failed to perform at the end of the series and only a few were able to counter the aggressive bowling consistently. While the performance of Roberts, Holding, Lillee and Imran was more or less expected considering their reputation, the showing of the South African all-rounder Mike Procter and Garth le Roux was highly impressive. Dennis Lillee picked up the most wickets for Australia and was ably supported by Max Walker and later Jeff Thomson.
Performance of top batsmen in World Series Cricket Batsman Team Matches Innings Runs 100s 50s Average
Barry Richards World XI 5 8 554 2 2 79.14
Greg Chappell Australia 14 26 1415 5 4 56.60
Vivian Richards West Indies and World XI 14 25 1281 4 4 55.69
David Hookes Australia 12 22 769 1 7 38.45
Clive Lloyd West Indies and World XI 13 21 683 1 3 37.94
Gordon Greenidge West Indies and World XI 13 23 754 1 4 35.90
Ian Chappell Australia 14 27 893 1 5 35.72
In pure test cricket personally I feel the likes of Sobers and Lara or even Gavaskar and Greg Chappell could have posed atleast equally if not more a challenge to Bradman for the title of the best batsmen ever,than Viv Richards or Sachin Tendulkar
Sunil Gavaskar opened the batting without wearing a helmet and playing for a relatively weaker team broke all the batting records facing great bowlers like Roberts,Holding,Imran ,Hadlee,Botham ,Wilis etc.Ofcourse he had some luck in the era of WSC packer cricket facing weaker West Indian and Australian attacks but still overall wa sprolific against the likes of Imran Khan.Sometimes it is hard visualizing Bradman even emulate Gavaskar facing the most lethal bowling without a helmet or equaling Gavasakr's 96 on a broken pitch against Pakistan at Bangalore in 1987.In his debut series Gavaskar aggregated a record 774 runs at 154 .80,much better than Bradman's debut.If one makes an equation of the class of bowling faced ,the strength of team played or support from other players,then in test cricket Gavaskar could be more comparable to the Don than Sachin.None of Tendulkar's best tset ining sfeature in the Wisden best 100 while 3 inings of Gavaskar' sdo.Tendulkar has not surapssed Gavaskar's 221 at the Oval or 96 at Bangalore.In 4th innings Gavaskar has overshadowed Tendulkar,which is significant.Unlike Tendulkar Gavaskar scored most of his centuries without the aid of a helmet which is remarkable.
Brian Lara held broke the world record score twice and is the only batsmen ever to reach the milisetone of 400 in test cricket.Lara's 5 best test innings are better than any batsmen ever like his 400,375,277,213 and 153.Lara has also scored his runs at a phenomenal strike rate for his era.On a bad wicket Bradman has not equalled Lara's unbeaten 153 at Barbados in 1999 v Australia,where he singlehandedly took his team home to a famous win.Lara has alos played in an era of considerably beter pace bowling and tackled it beter than nay batsmen ever.After Bradman no batsmen has a higher average percentage score of the team's total like Lara.Like George Headley Lara played for a very weak batting team.Unlike Bradman,Lara played against teams like South Africa ,Sri Lanka and Pakistan .Hard envisaging the Don surpass Brian's unbeaten 153 at Barbados or 221 v Murlitharan .Lara revealed creative genius marginaly more than Bradman and could execute strokes that were surreal.In Anantha Narayana's match performance ratings Lara is only 2nd to Bradman which ***** factors like strength of opposition,state of game,nature of wicket,impact on match. etc.Many opponents prized Lara's wicket marginally more than Sachin's like Glen Mcgrath,Jacques Kallis or even Wasim Akram.Lara could turn the complexion of game and was more mercurial than Tendulkar at his best.I have doubts hwether even Bradma would have surpassed Lara's incredible scoring rate considering the era.
Gary Sobers has been rated by both the Chappell brothers as the best batsmen they ever saw and many opponents rate him the most perfect batsmen they bowled to.Gary morally averaged over 58 in test cricket adding his scores for the rest of the world.Gray had made the then world record score in 1958 at Kingston.More of Gary's centuries or best knocks were scored in a crisis than Viv or Sachin like his 132 in the tried tes in 1961 at Brisbane,113 at Kingston on a broken track in 1968 against England and 254 at Melbourne in1972.Gary faced the best bolwers like Alan Davidson,John Snow,Fred Truemn and Dennis Lillee.
Morally Greg Chappell could well have been the best test batsmen of the 1970's ,arguably the most competitive decade ever in the history of test cricket.Add his scores in Packer cricket and against rest of the world and he would have the highest international test run aggregate of the 1970's and averaged over 55 with 31 test centuries.Greg was more complete than Gavaskar or Viv and the most complete batsmen with Barry Richards of his era.No batsmen was more prolific or averaged more against the great West Indian bolwers of that time as Greg who scored 521 runs at an average of 69 wit 3 centuries in 5 supertests in the West Indies in 1979.Greg wa sthe most prolific batsmen in Kerry Packer WSC cricket aggregating 1416 runs including compiling the highest score of 246 in 1977.78.Greg has the 4th highest average in matches won by any batsmen in the history of test cricket behind only Bradman,Sobers and Inzamam.
ANALYSIS BY ANANTHA NARAYANA
BRIAN LARA
Balls faced information
Balls faced: 19753
Scoring rate: 60.5
Balls faced per inns: 85.1.
Amongst the top batsmen, only Sehwag, Richards and Pietersen are ahead of Lara in the scoring rate measure. The average balls faced per innings is, as expected, on the lower side.
Top 5 innings analysis
Top 5 inns (Runs) : 400 375 277 226 221 Total: 1499 Avge: 299.8
These small analytical segments bring new insights. The first is the average of the top-5 innings played by the concerned batsman. Lara's average of almost 300 is the highest of all batsmen. Next comes Bradman with 292.2 and then comes Sehwag, with 275.2. This confirms Lara's penchant for playing huge innings.
Top 5 inns (Balls): 582 538 372 360 354 Total: 2206 Avge: 441.2
The next one is to look at the top 5 innings in terms of balls faced. The balls played data is available even for many older players. But this is not a complete analysis. Notwithstanding his attacking play, Lara has genuinely played many long innings. His average for the top-5 innings is a huge 441. The leader in this regards is Hutton with 588, followed by Hammond, with 566. Amongst modern batsmen, Jayawardene leads with 463 and Lara comes next. Dravid's average is 438.
Lara as the highest scorer
HS Inns: 65
% of inns: 28.0
HS Runs total: 7613
HS Next Best: 3623
% of Lara's total: 47.6
This is a new piece of analysis. I have determined the number of innings in which Lara was the leading scorer in the innings and worked out this as a % of total innings. More importantly, to get a handle on the level of support, I have added the next highest scores and determined this total as a % of the total of Lara's innings. The numbers are very illuminative.
Lara has top-scored in 28.0% of the innings he played in. His is the highest amongst modern batsmen. Only Gavaskar matches this number. Of course, many old timers have figures in excess of 30, Bradman leading with 37.5%. The matching with Gavaskar indicates how often Lara carried his team.
The next one is an even more enlightening one. This defines the support received. Lara received the least support amongst all batsmen. The next best batsmen have totalled 47.6% of Lara's aggregate, below even half-way stage. He is the only batsman to have received below 50% support. Sehwag is next with 53.5% and then comes Hutton with 53.7%. Just as a comparison, the number for Tendulkar is 65.4% and for Ponting, 64.9%. This is a clear confirmation of how often Lara carried the burden.
Innings break-down
Sub-10 innings: No- 62 % of total-26.7%
Sub-25 innings: No-100 % of total-43.1%
Sub-50 innings: No-147 % of total-63.4%
In this new analysis I look at the pattern of low scores. Lara has had 26.7% of single-digit scores, 43% of scores below 25 and a huge 63.4% of sub-50 scores. This indicates that Lara was not a great starter. I have not looked at all batsmen but Michael Clarke (27.5%) has a higher single-digit component. The older batsmen all have figures below 15%. Sangakkara has a below-20% tally.
Team runs/balls analysis
Runs added with late order batsmen (7-11) : 1487 (25)
Avge runs added with late order batsmen : 59.5
Team runs while at crease : 21448
Batsman's % Runs contribution : 55.7%
Team balls while at crease : 38562
% of balls faced while at crease: 51.2%
Total team runs : 63049
Batsman Runs % : 19.0%
The runs added with late order batsmen are not very high. Lara's average is around 60. Tendulkar is much higher at 69.6. But let me say that 100% data is not available for the batsmen who started the career before 1992 or so.
Lara's overall runs contribution to his team total is a reasonably high 19%. Bradman has contributed 25%. Most batsmen contribute between 15 and 17%. It is understandable that Lara scores 55% of runs while at crease. He outscored his fellow batsmen often.
Innings analysis
Description T I N Runs Avge 100 50 Freq Team-Runs %
Inns 1 58 1 4000 70.18 12 12 4.8 18111 22.1%
Inns 2 72 0 4249 59.01 13 21 5.5 23053 18.4%
Inns 3 56 0 2264 40.43 7 8 8.0 12704 17.8%
Inns 4 46 5 1440 35.12 2 7 23.0 9181 15.7%
The innings runs and averages follow a similar pattern. Most batsmen have high-first, high-second, reasonable-third and average-fourth innings values. Lara is no exception. There are many other top batsmen who have better third and fourth innings figures. Kallis has a third innings average of 68.8 and Gavaskar, a fourth innings average of 58.7.
Home/Away analysis
Home 65 111 5 6217 58.65 17 26 6.5 32020 19.4%
Away 66 121 1 5736 47.80 17 22 7.1 31029 18.5%
This again has the same pattern as most batsmen. Lara has averaged 20% better at home. There are batsmen who have done 30-40% better at home. On the flip side, Cook averages 43.5 at home and 54.3 away. Dravid also averages better away. However no one can beat Barrington who averages 51.2 and 68.9. It is clear that Lara has not set the foreign grounds alight, barring probably Sri Lankan.
GARY SOBERS-FROM CRICINFO BY S.RAJESH
Excluding the first three years of his Test career, when Sobers was still finding his feet in international cricket, he averaged nearly 63 in 79 matches, which was easily the best during that period. England's Ken Barrington was the only other batsman whose average was close to 60. Even Sobers' overall career average of 57.78 is among the very best: with a cut-off of 3000 runs, only five batsmen have done better.
Best Test batsmen between Jan 1958 and Dec 1974 (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Garry Sobers 79 7360 62.90 26/ 27
Ken Barrington 80 6754 59.76 20/ 35
Hanif Mohammad 37 3018 51.15 10/ 11
Doug Walters 50 3869 50.90 12/ 23
Rohan Kanhai 74 6021 49.35 15/ 28
Bob Simpson 50 4045 48.73 8/ 23
Ted Dexter 62 4502 47.89 9/ 27
Geoff Boycott 63 4579 47.69 12/ 26
Highest Test averages in wins (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Don Bradman 30 4813 130.08 23/ 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq 49 4690 78.16 17/ 20
Garry Sobers 31 3097 77.42 12/ 11
SUNIL GAVASKAR -FROM CRICINFO BY S.RAJESH
Sunil Gavaskar's Test career Period Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Debut series 4 774 154.80 4/ 3
July 1971 to Jan 1975 13 693 27.72 1/ 6
Feb 1975 to Jan 1980 45 4434 59.91 18/ 16
Feb 1980 to Sep 1985 47 2939 40.81 7/ 14
Oct 1985 onwards 16 1282 58.27 4/ 6
Career 125 10,122 51.12 34/ 45
Despite having played during a period when run-scoring was considerably more difficult than it is today, Gavaskar achieved some incredible numbers, becoming the first to get to 10,000 Test runs and 30 centuries. During the two decades in which he played, only six batsmen scored more than 4000 runs at a 50-plus average.
Top batsmen between Jan 1970 and Dec 1989 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Javed Miandad 101 7701 57.04 22/ 36
Greg Chappell 87 7110 53.86 24/ 31
Allan Border 111 8488 53.38 23/ 46
Viv Richards 108 7849 51.98 24/ 37
Sunil Gavaskar 125 10,122 51.12 34/ 45
Geoff Boycott 67 5505 50.50 16/ 29
The other aspect of Gavaskar's career that stood out was his ability to play for long periods, especially in the fourth innings of Tests. Several other top-class batsmen have performed below potential in the last innings of Tests, with Tendulkar being the prime example: in 47 such innings he averages less than 38. But Gavaskar had no such problems, averaging 58.25 in 33 innings, which is second only to Boycott among batsmen who scored at least 1000 fourth-innings runs.
One of the features of Gavaskar's batting - and that of India during the period he played in - was the ability to bat many overs in the last innings. When he scored that 221 at The Oval, India batted 150.5 overs, and there were several other instances when the team batted more than 100 overs. (Click here for a Numbers Game column from July 2007 that compares Gavaskar and Tendulkar in fourth innings; while Gavaskar averaged more than 56 in meaningful fourth innings, Tendulkar only managed an average of less than 27.)
Best Test averages in fourth innings (Qual: 1000 runs) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Geoff Boycott 34 1234 58.76 3/ 7
Sunil Gavaskar 33 1398 58.25 4/ 8
Graeme Smith 30 1285 53.54 3/ 8
Gordon Greenidge 38 1383 53.19 3/ 6
Ricky Ponting 38 1311 52.44 4/ 4
Matthew Hayden 39 1287 49.50 1/ 9
Jacques Kallis 41 1212 44.88 1/ 10
Graham Gooch 29 1121 44.84 3/ 5
In fact, Gavaskar was at his most prolific in matches that ended in draws. In the 23 Tests he played that India won, his average was only 43.97, and he scored six hundreds. On the other hand, 22 of his 34 hundreds came in draws, and his average shot up to more than 65 in those matches. Gavaskar remains the only batsman to have scored more than 6000 runs in drawn Tests, with Tendulkar more than 400 runs short of the mark.
Most runs in drawn Tests Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sunil Gavaskar 67 6039 65.64 22/ 25
Sachin Tendulkar 67 5563 67.02 19/ 25
Allan Border 59 5084 68.70 16/ 27
Rahul Dravid 53 4979 68.20 16/ 26
Javed Miandad 62 4570
GREG CHAPPELL-CRICINFO B S.RAJESH
As a No. 4 batsman, though, his stats were outstanding, as he scored more than 4300 runs at an average of almost 60. In the entire history of Test cricket only two batsmen - Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene - have scored 4000-plus runs at a higher average. Among Australian No. 4 batsmen, Greg clearly has the best stats: Mark Waugh has scored more runs but at an average of less than 43, while Allan Border's eight hundreds in 88 innings compare poorly with Greg's 15 in 86.
Highest Test averages at No. 4 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Jacques Kallis 139 7506 63.61 28/ 33
Mahela Jayawardene 140 7689 59.60 25/ 27
Greg Chappell 86 4316 59.12 15/ 19
Sachin Tendulkar 232 12,060 58.26 43/ 49
Javed Miandad 140 6925 54.10 19/ 31
Denis Compton 86 4234 53.59 13/ 20
Inzamam-ul-Haq 98 4867 52.90 15/ 21
Brian Lara 148 7535 51.25 24/ 31
Highest averages in Test wins (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Don Bradman 30 4813 130.08 23/ 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq 49 4690 78.16 17/ 20
Garry Sobers 31 3097 77.42 12/ 11
Greg Chappell 38 3595 70.49 14/ 16
His other great battles came against the pace attack of West Indies, including some of his best and worst moments. In the home series in 1975-76, Chappell scored 702 runs at an average of 117; his aggregate is the highest by an Australian in a series against West Indies, and the fourth-highest by any batsman against them. In 1981-82, though, the story was completely different, as Chappell managed 86 runs in six innings, which included two first-ball ducks. That was easily his worst performance in a series.
Chappell's battles against the West Indies pace attack extended beyond the Test scene; he tackled them in the Supertests in World Series Cricket as well, and performed superbly. In 14 matches he averaged more than 56, which was significantly more than any other Australian batsman.
MADHUSUDHAN RAMAKRISHNAN IN 2010 ON WSC CRICKET IN CRICINFO
Greg Chappell vindicated his status as one of the best players of fast bowing and his tally of over 1400 runs at an average of 56.60 with five centuries put him in a league of his own. The bowling that he faced included the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Imran Khan. Many batsmen wilted in the face of hostile pace bowling and they averaged well below their overall Test averages. David Hookes, on the other hand, despite being fairly new to international cricket, performed superbly in World Series Cricket, but rather surprisingly turned out to be a failure in international cricket after the two years.
WSC was the most difficult test for batsmen due to incredible line up of pace bowlers present then. Many batsmen failed to perform at the end of the series and only a few were able to counter the aggressive bowling consistently. While the performance of Roberts, Holding, Lillee and Imran was more or less expected considering their reputation, the showing of the South African all-rounder Mike Procter and Garth le Roux was highly impressive. Dennis Lillee picked up the most wickets for Australia and was ably supported by Max Walker and later Jeff Thomson.
Performance of top batsmen in World Series Cricket Batsman Team Matches Innings Runs 100s 50s Average
Barry Richards World XI 5 8 554 2 2 79.14
Greg Chappell Australia 14 26 1415 5 4 56.60
Vivian Richards West Indies and World XI 14 25 1281 4 4 55.69
David Hookes Australia 12 22 769 1 7 38.45
Clive Lloyd West Indies and World XI 13 21 683 1 3 37.94
Gordon Greenidge West Indies and World XI 13 23 754 1 4 35.90
Ian Chappell Australia 14 27 893 1 5 35.72
