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Best batsmen when following-on in Tests
Alastair Cook's average is the fourth-best among all batsmen who have played at least three innings while following-on in Tests.
Published On Sep 13, 2015, 08:00 AM IST
Last UpdatedSep 13, 2015, 08:00 AM IST
Alastair Cook scored 85 while following-on in the fifth Ashes 2015 Test. On the previous two occasions when his team was asked to follow-on, he scored 118 and 176. Bharath Seervi lists most successful batsmen when asked to follow-on in Tests.
The follow-on is imposed when a team senses an innings victory or a low target in the fourth innings. It is a difficult situation for the team which is asked to follow-on to save the Test. Of the 306 times a follow-on has been imposed, the side batting first has won 233 times; there have been 76 draws, while the side following-on has won thrice.
England has been asked to follow-on thrice with Alastair Cook in their side. Cook’s scores in those innings were 118 against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2007-08, 176 against India at Motera in 2012-13 and 85 against Australia at The Oval in 2015. Though England lost two of those Tests, Cook’s innings prevented bigger defeats.
Cook averages 126.33 while following-on in Tests. He has aggregated 379 runs from three innings, getting out every time. His average is the fourth-best among all batsmen who have played at least three innings while following-on in Tests. Read: To bat or not to bat? Misbah-ul-Haq, Michael Clarke and others who do not enforce follow-on
The highest batting average while following-on in Tests is 158.75 by Andy Flower with at least 3 innings while following-on. From seven innings Flower scored 635 runs with two centuries and three fifties and was not out thrice. Other two batsmen with higher averages than Cook are VVS Laxman (146.50) and Dilip Sardesai (143.50). The table below lists complete details.
Batting average of more than 100 while following-on in Tests (Min. 3 innings)
| Ave | Batsman | Team | Inns | NO | Runs | 100s | 50s | Ducks | HS |
| 158.75 | Andy Flower | Zimbabwe | 7 | 3 | 635 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 232* |
| 146.5 | VVS Laxman | India | 6 | 2 | 586 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 281 |
| 143.5 | Dilip Sardesai | India | 3 | 1 | 287 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 200* |
| 126.33 | Alastair Cook | England | 3 | 0 | 379 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 176 |
| 123.75 | Gary Kirsten | South Africa | 4 | 0 | 495 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 275 |
| 119.5 | Don Bradman | Australia | 3 | 1 | 239 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 144* |
| 119 | Thilan Samaraweera | Sri Lanka | 5 | 3 | 238 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 115* |
| 118 | Darren Bravo | West Indies | 3 | 0 | 354 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 218 |
| 104.33 | KS Ranjitsinhji | England | 4 | 1 | 313 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 154* |
| 103.5 | Ian Redpath | Australia | 3 | 1 | 207 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 80 |
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Cook has the highest average among those who were dismissed every time.
–         Alec Stewart played 10 innings while following-on and averaged 68.75. David Gower is the other player to average more than 50 amongst those who played at least 10 innings when their team was asked to follow-on. He averaged 54.25 from 10 innings. Read: Highest individual scores in List-A cricket by players who didn’t play ODIs
Batting average of more than 100 as captain while following-on in Test
| Ave | Captain | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | 100s | 50s | Ducks |
| 226 | Don Bradman | 2 | 1 | 226 | 144* | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 170 | Bill Murdoch | 2 | 1 | 170 | 153* | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 161 | Ted Dexter | 2 | 1 | 161 | 126* | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| – | Mike Gatting | 1 | 1 | 150 | 150* | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 143.5 | Garry Sobers | 4 | 2 | 287 | 113* | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 130.5 | Alastair Cook | 2 | 0 | 261 | 176 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 121.5 | Saleem Malik | 2 | 0 | 243 | 237 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 116 | Mushfiqur Rahim | 1 | 0 | 116 | 116 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Garry Sobers is the only one who has batted more than twice while following-on as captain. He averaged 67.60 from 4 innings.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Mike Gatting played only one innings as a captain and scored unbeaten 150.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â If a cut-off of three innings as captain is considered, the best after Sobers is Stewart (73.33).
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â As captain John Reid has played most innings while following-on (7). He scored 121 at 20.16 with a best of 44.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dudley Nourse (66.00) and Brian Lara (51.60) are the only two captains to have batting average more than 50 having played 5 or more innings.
Highest individual scores while following-on in Tests (175 and more)
| Runs | Batsman | For | Against | Ground | Date | Result |
| 337 | Hanif Mohammad | Pakistan | West Indies | Bridgetown | 17-Jan-58 | Drawn |
| 281 | VVS Laxman | India | Australia | Kolkata | 11-Mar-01 | Won |
| 275 | Gary Kirsten | South Africa | England | Durban | 26-Dec-99 | Drawn |
| 237 | Saleem Malik | Pakistan | Australia | Rawalpindi | 05-Oct-94 | Drawn |
| 232* | Andy Flower | Zimbabwe | India | Nagpur | 25-Nov-00 | Drawn |
| 218 | Darren Bravo | West Indies | New Zealand | Dunedin | 03-Dec-13 | Drawn |
| 200* | Dilip Sardesai | India | New Zealand | Mumbai | 12-Mar-65 | Drawn |
| 199* | Andy Flower | Zimbabwe | South Africa | Harare | 07-Sep-01 | Lost |
| 188* | Guy Whittall | Zimbabwe | New Zealand | Harare | 19-Sep-00 | Lost |
| 184* | David Boon | Australia | England | Sydney | 29-Jan-88 | Drawn |
| 180 | Rahul Dravid | India | Australia | Kolkata | 11-Mar-01 | Won |
| 176 | Alastair Cook | England | India | Ahmedabad | 15-Nov-12 | Lost |
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Flower is the only one with two 175s while following-on. He almost scored two double centuries while following-on (232* and 199*).
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Flower and Kirsten are the only players with two 150s while following-on in Tests.
–         Saleem Malik’s 237 and Cook’s 176 are the only two innings in the above table by captains.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â There have been seven double-centuries while following-on. In none of them the respective sides were lost.
–         Only Flower’s 199*, Guy Whittall’s 188* and Cook’s 176 came in defeats.
–         Laxman’s 281 and Rahul Dravid’s 180 came in the same innings. Their team won the Test.
–         The other two to score centuries while following-on and helping their team to victories are Ian Botham (149*) in 1981 and Albert Ward (117) in 1894-95 — both against Australia (just like Laxman and Dravid).
–         There are 13 instances of two centurions for a team while following-on. Only twice have there been three centurions: Geoff Pullar (119), Ken Barrington (172) and Ted Dexter (126) against India at Green Park in 1961-62; and Graeme Smith (107), Neil McKenzie (138) and Hashim Amla (104*) against England at Lord’s in 2008. Both Tests were drawn.
–         There was one century and six fifties by Sri Lankans against England at Lord’s in 2006. Sri Lankans batted 199 over to produce a draw.
Footnote Trivia – Being part of a following-on side for most number of times
Reid has been part of a following-on side for a record 14 times. Shivnarine Chanderpaul is next with 13. Bert Sutcliffe and Mohammad Ashraful follow with 11, while Allan Border, Gower, Aravinda de Silva, Stewart and Heath Streak have 10 times each. Read: Lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership in a Test series
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)
