Thirty-six years between Tests

The third Test between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai was the first played at the Brabourne Stadium since England visited in 1973. This week we've looked at venues that endured years of drought between international matches.

The Brabourne Stadium, built on land reclaimed from the sea and gifted to the Cricket Club of India by Lord Brabourne, was Mumbai's second Test venue after the Bombay Gymkhana ground. However, disputes between the CCI and the Bombay Cricket Association led to the BCA building the Wankhede Stadium, which then became the city's Test venue from the 1970s. The recent India-Sri Lanka Test was only held at the Brabourne because the Wankhede was being renovated for the 2011 World Cup. The gap of 36 years and 294 days between matches at the Brabourne is the largest for any Test venue, including the South African ones that were deprived of Test cricket during the country's isolation because of the apartheid regime.

The longest a South African venue went without a Test, however, was not during their international ban. St George's Park in Port Elizabeth hosted the first Test to be played outside England and Australia in 1889 and it staged two more matches before Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town took precedence over it. St George's Park went 35 years without a Test between 1914 and 1949, after which it held matches on a regular basis. It was also the venue of the last Test South Africa played before their isolation in 1970.

Longest gap between Tests at a venue

Ground		Mat	Match	Scorecard		Mat	Match	Scorecard		Diff
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai		17	India v Eng	Feb 11, 1973		18	India v SL	Dec 2, 2009		36y 294d
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth		3	SA v Eng	Mar 3, 1914		4	SA v Eng	Mar 5, 1949		35y 2d
Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka		7	Pak v NZ	Nov 11, 1969		8	Pak v SL	Mar 12, 1999		29y 121d
Edgbaston, Birmingham		4	Eng v SA	Jun 18, 1929		5	Eng v WI	May 30, 1957		27y 346d
Newlands, Cape Town		24	SA v Aus	Jan 27, 1970		25	SA v India	Jan 2, 1993		22y 341d
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth		12	SA v Aus	Mar 10, 1970		13	SA v India	Dec 26, 1992		22y 291d
Kingsmead, Durban		19	SA v Aus	Feb 9, 1970		20	SA v India	Nov 13, 1992		22y 278d
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg		11	SA v Aus	Feb 24, 1970		12	SA v India	Nov 26, 1992		22y 276d
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan		2	India v NZ	Oct 20, 1969		3	India v NZ	Dec 2, 1988		19y 43d
Eden Park, Auckland		3	NZ v Eng	Apr 3, 1933		4	NZ v WI	Feb 15, 1952		18y 318d
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth		2	SA v Eng	Feb 14, 1896		3	SA v Eng	Feb 27, 1914		18y 13d
Edgbaston, Birmingham		2	Eng v Aus	May 29, 1909		3	Eng v SA	Jun 14, 1924		15y 16d
Eden Gardens, Kolkata		1	India v Eng	Jan 8, 1934		2	India v WI	Dec 31, 1948		14y 358d
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai		1	India v Eng	Feb 13, 1934		2	India v WI	Jan 27, 1949		14y 349d
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai		4	India v Pak	Dec 1, 1952		5	India v WI	Jan 13, 1967		14y 43d
Basin Reserve, Wellington		2	NZ v SA	Mar 7, 1932		3	NZ v Aus	Mar 29, 1946		14y 22d
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur		1	India v NZ	Oct 8, 1969		2	India v Pak	Oct 5, 1983		13y 362d
AMI Stadium, Christchurch		3	NZ v Eng	Mar 27, 1933		4	NZ v Eng	Mar 21, 1947		13y 359d
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan		1	India v NZ	Nov 24, 1955		2	India v NZ	Oct 15, 1969		13y 325d
Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad		2	WI v Eng	Jan 28, 1935		3	WI v Eng	Feb 11, 1948		13y 14d

The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka is the only venue to have hosted a first home fixture for two Test nations. Pakistan hosted India in 1954-55 in what was East Pakistan at the time, and Bangladesh played India there 46 years later, when they became the 10th nation admitted into the Test fold. Before Bangladesh's maiden Test, though, the Bangabandhu held the first neutral Test since 1912 - the final of the Asian Test Championship, between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in 1999. It was the first Test there for 29 years, since Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan.

What's the largest gap for a team - visiting ones included - between Tests at a particular venue? South Africa's first ever Test in New Zealand was in Christchurch, whose Test ground was called Lancaster Park at the time. Their next, and last to date, visit there was 67 years later, shortly after Lancaster Park was renamed the Jade Stadium. The South Africans are yet to visit the venue since it was christened the AMI Stadium.

You might think the longest gap between Tests at a particular venue for a player would be a period in the early 1900s - tours were relatively few and far between and cricket was put on hold while the world went to war, twice. But it isn't. India have played only two Tests at Napier's McLean Park, and Sachin Tendulkar was involved in both those matches, which were 19 years apart. He made 88 there during a draw in 1990, and 49 and 64 in another draw in 2009.

Longest gap between Tests for a player at a venue

Player	Ground		Match	Scorecard		Match	Scorecard		Diff
SR Tendulkar	McLean Park, Napier		NZ v India	Feb 13, 1990		NZ v India	Mar 26, 2009		19y 41d
FR Brown	Lord's, London		Eng v India	Jun 28, 1932		Eng v SA	Jun 21, 1951		18y 358d
GA Headley	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica		WI v Eng	Mar 18, 1935		WI v Eng	Jan 15, 1954		18y 303d
FR Brown	Kennington Oval, London		Eng v NZ	Jul 31, 1931		Eng v NZ	Aug 13, 1949		18y 13d
FR Brown	AMI Stadium, Christchurch		NZ v Eng	Mar 27, 1933		NZ v Eng	Mar 17, 1951		17y 355d
JMM Commaille	Old Wanderers, Johannesburg		SA v Eng	Mar 3, 1910		SA v Eng	Dec 24, 1927		17y 296d
JMM Commaille	Newlands, Cape Town		SA v Eng	Mar 14, 1910		SA v Eng	Dec 31, 1927		17y 292d
SR Tendulkar	National Stadium, Karachi		Pak v India	Nov 20, 1989		Pak v India	Jan 29, 2006		16y 70d
SR Tendulkar	Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad		Pak v India	Nov 28, 1989		Pak v India	Jan 21, 2006		16y 54d
EAB Rowan	Headingley, Leeds		Eng v SA	Jul 16, 1935		Eng v SA	Jul 26, 1951		16y 10d
LR Gibbs	National Stadium, Karachi		Pak v WI	Feb 25, 1959		Pak v WI	Mar 1, 1975		16y 4d
WW Armstrong	Trent Bridge, Nottingham		Eng v Aus	May 31, 1905		Eng v Aus	May 28, 1921		15y 362d
W Rhodes	Trent Bridge, Nottingham		Eng v Aus	May 31, 1905		Eng v Aus	May 28, 1921		15y 362d
EAB Rowan	Kennington Oval, London		Eng v SA	Aug 20, 1935		Eng v SA	Aug 16, 1951		15y 361d
EAB Rowan	Trent Bridge, Nottingham		Eng v SA	Jun 18, 1935		Eng v SA	Jun 7, 1951		15y 354d
EAB Rowan	Lord's, London		Eng v SA	Jul 2, 1935		Eng v SA	Jun 21, 1951		15y 354d
GA Gooch	Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba		Aus v Eng	Dec 6, 1978		Aus v Eng	Nov 25, 1994		15y 354d
SR Tendulkar	WACA Ground, Perth		Aus v India	Feb 5, 1992		Aus v India	Jan 16, 2008		15y 345d
EAB Rowan	Old Trafford, Manchester		Eng v SA	Jul 30, 1935		Eng v SA	Jul 5, 1951		15y 340d
BC Lara	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore		Pak v WI	Dec 11, 1990		Pak v WI	Nov 11, 2006		15y 335d

Here's another tough, but workable, one. Who is the only male cricketer to have played more than one international at the County Ground in Taunton (which since 2006 has been the home of English women's cricket)? If your answer is an England player, you'd be wrong, because Sri Lanka are the only team to have played two ODIs in Taunton. They played England there in the 1983 World Cup and, nearly 16 years later, took on India during the 1999 tournament. And Arjuna Ranatunga was in both those Sri Lankan XIs.

Longest gap between ODIs for a player at a venue

Player	Ground		Match	Scorecard		Match	Scorecard		Diff
A Ranatunga	County Ground, Taunton		Eng v SL	Jun 11, 1983		India v SL	May 26, 1999		15y 349d
BC Lara	Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad		Pak v WI	Nov 24, 1991		Pak v WI	Dec 7, 2006		15y 13d
SR Tendulkar	AMI Stadium, Christchurch		NZ v India	Apr 2, 1994		NZ v India	Mar 8, 2009		14y 340d
CL Hooper	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur		India v WI	Dec 8, 1987		India v WI	Nov 9, 2002		14y 336d
MS Atapattu	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur		India v SL	Dec 1, 1990		India v SL	Oct 25, 2005		14y 328d
SR Tendulkar	Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh		India v Eng	Jan 21, 1993		India v Aus	Oct 8, 2007		14y 260d
DB Vengsarkar	AMI Stadium, Christchurch		NZ v India	Feb 21, 1976		Aus v India	Mar 3, 1990		14y 10d
Inzamam-ul-Haq	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica		WI v Pak	Mar 23, 1993		WI v Pak	Mar 13, 2007		13y 355d
A Kumble	Newlands, Cape Town		SA v India	Dec 7, 1992		SA v India	Nov 26, 2006		13y 354d
LRD Mendis	Kennington Oval, London		Aus v SL	Jun 11, 1975		Eng v SL	Sep 4, 1988		13y 85d
CL Hooper	Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua		WI v Pak	Mar 15, 1988		WI v SA	May 2, 2001		13y 48d
N Kapil Dev	Eden Park, Auckland		NZ v India	Feb 14, 1981		NZ v India	Mar 27, 1994		13y 41d
BC Lara	Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai		SA v WI	Nov 14, 1993		SL v WI	Oct 14, 2006		12y 334d
BC Lara	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad		India v WI	Nov 16, 1993		WI v Zim	Oct 8, 2006		12y 326d
ST Jayasuriya	P Sara Oval, Colombo		SL v Aus	Sep 13, 1994		SL v Bang	Jul 20, 2007		12y 310d
CA Walsh	AMI Stadium, Christchurch		NZ v WI	Mar 28, 1987		NZ v WI	Jan 11, 2000		12y 289d
MS Atapattu	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium		Pak v SL	Jan 19, 1992		SL v Zim	Oct 9, 2004		12y 264d
BC Lara	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai		India v WI	Oct 23, 1994		India v WI	Jan 27, 2007		12y 96d
S Chanderpaul	Barabati Stadium, Cuttack		India v WI	Nov 9, 1994		India v WI	Jan 24, 2007		12y 76d
DL Haynes	Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent		WI v Eng	Feb 4, 1981		WI v Pak	Mar 30, 1993		12y 54d

The longest gap between a team playing ODIs at a particular venue also belongs to Sri Lanka. They first played at Old Trafford during the 1975 World Cup and then during the 1979 tournament. Their next appearance in Manchester for an ODI was 23 years later, during the Natwest series in 2002.

Longest gap between ODIs for a team at a venue

Team	Ground		Opposition	Scorecard		Opposition	Scorecard		Diff
Sri Lanka	Old Trafford, Manchester		v India	Jun 18, 1979		v Eng	Jul 7, 2002		23y 19d
New Zealand	County Ground, Bristol		v SL	Jun 13, 1983		v Eng	Jul 4, 2004		21y 21d
India	Edgbaston, Birmingham		v WI	Jun 9, 1979		v Eng	May 29, 1999		19y 354d
Australia	Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh		v NZ	Oct 27, 1987		v India	Oct 8, 2007		19y 346d
Sri Lanka	Trent Bridge, Nottingham		v NZ	Jun 9, 1979		v SA	Aug 14, 1998		19y 66d
England	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo		v SL	Feb 14, 1982		v SL	Mar 27, 2001		19y 41d
Sri Lanka	County Ground, Bristol		v NZ	Jun 13, 1983		v India	Jul 11, 2002		19y 28d
Sri Lanka	Headingley, Leeds		v Eng	Jun 20, 1983		v Eng	Jul 2, 2002		19y 12d
India	Lord's, London		v WI	Jun 25, 1983		v Eng	Jun 29, 2002		19y 4d
West Indies	Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur		v India	Dec 7, 1983		v India	Nov 6, 2002		18y 334d
Zimbabwe	Edgbaston, Birmingham		v WI	Jun 20, 1983		v Eng	Jul 18, 2000		17y 28d
Australia	Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai		v Pak	Oct 23, 1989		v WI	Oct 18, 2006		16y 360d
Australia	Kennington Oval, London		v Eng	Aug 20, 1980		v Eng	May 24, 1997		16y 277d
India	MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong		v Bang	Oct 27, 1988		v Bang	Dec 23, 2004		16y 57d
West Indies	Headingley, Leeds		v Eng	May 21, 1988		v Eng	Jul 1, 2004		16y 41d
Australia	National Stadium, Karachi		v Pak	Oct 22, 1982		v Pak	Nov 6, 1998		16y 15d
Sri Lanka	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad		v India	Oct 22, 1989		v India	Nov 6, 2005		16y 15d
Australia	Eden Gardens, Kolkata		v Eng	Nov 8, 1987		v India	Nov 18, 2003		16y 10d
New Zealand	Trent Bridge, Nottingham		v Pak	Jun 20, 1983		v India	Jun 12, 1999		15y 357d
Zimbabwe	Trent Bridge, Nottingham		v Aus	Jun 9, 1983		v Eng	May 25, 1999		15y 350d