Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman who averaged 40 in Tests in all the ten Test-playing nations

Only a few cricketers managed to average more than 40 in all the countries they played in their Test career. Sachin Tendulkar is the only one to do the perfect 10. Bharath Seervi lists them.

A batsman’s greatness is known when he performs well overseas as well as at home. Some batsmen play excellent in some countries and fail in other countries because of the variation of pitches, bowlers and conditions. Only a handful has performed in all the countries they have played in their Test career. In this decade there have been ten Test-playing nations. This is in stark contrast to the pre-1970s era, where there were only 7, and South Africa did not tour or host India, West Indies, or Pakistan. It is understandable that the earlier players played in less number of countries when compared to present generation players.

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

Among present generation cricketers, Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman who averaged more than 40 in all 10 countries he played —53.20 in Australia, 136.66 in Bangladesh, 54.31 in England, 52.67 in India, 49.52 in New Zealand, 40.25 in Pakistan, 46.44 in South Africa, 67.94 in Sri Lanka, 47.69 in West Indies and 40.00 in Zimbabwe.

None of the present generation cricketers averaged more than 40 in all the 10 countries. From the past, Ken Barrington did it in 7, Greg Chappell in 6 and Rohan Kanhai in 5. They are the only players who played in at least 5 countries and averaged more than 40 in all of them.

Average of 40+ in all countries in Tests (Min. five countries)

–          Barrington and Kanhai scored centuries in all the countries they played in.

Among the players of this decade, Kumar Sangakkara averaged more than 40 in 8 countries (including UAE). He averaged less than 40 in India (36.50), South Africa (35.75) and West Indies (34.00). In fact, Sangakkara averaged more than 60 in 7 countries!

Among all players since 1990s, Damien Martyn is the one who averaged more than 40 in all the top 8 nations, missing out only in Bangladesh and UAE.

AB de Villiers averages more than 40 in all of the top 8 countries and has missed out in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He is still an active cricketer though, so the numbers might change.

At present, Steven Smith averages more than 40 in all 6 countries he has played in. Let us see what his career pans out to be.

Some batsmen who missed a single country are Sunil Gavaskar (Sri Lanka, 37.20) Allan Border (South Africa, 38.00), Viv Richards (New Zealand, 19.25), Geoff Boycott (New Zealand, 22.37), Ted Dexter (Australia, 35.64) and Simon Katich (England, 35.95).

Don Bradman cannot be missed when discussing averages. He played in only two countries in his Test career — Australia and England. He averaged 98.22 in Australia and 102.84 in England.

(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)