Headingley's 82-year-old best
The top individual Test score in Leeds hasn't changed since Bradman's 334, while the Gabba has had three out of four records fall in the last two seasons
Travis Basevi and George Binoy
23-May-2012
Alastair Cook has the highest score at the Gabba - 235 not out in the 2010-11 Ashes. The previous best was Don Bradman's 226, made in 1931 • Getty Images
Who has made the highest Test score at a ground at the most grounds? It isn't Don Bradman or Brian Lara, who had penchants for long innings, or Sachin Tendulkar, who has played at the most venues. We'll tell you later. And which Test ground has the longest-standing highest score? That's Headingley, and the record does belong to Bradman, who scored 334 there in 1930. The closest anyone has come to eclipsing that was John Edrich, who made 310 not out against New Zealand in 1965.
This week's column is about venues that have the longest-standing best individual performances. The tables contain all venues that have held at least 15 Tests or 25 ODIs, and the venues are ranked according to the longevity of the highest score or best bowling performance.
Of the 106 venues to have hosted a Test, only two have best individual scores that have stood for longer than Bradman's 82-year mark in Leeds. But that's because those venues don't exist anymore. Bramall Lane in Sheffield, the early home of Yorkshire, hosted only one Test, in 1902, when Australia's Clem Hill top-scored with 119 in a 143-run victory against England. In 1973 the venue was rebuilt into a football stadium, and it is presently the home of Sheffield United. Lord's, the one in Durban, hosted four Tests before it was destroyed in 1922. Johnny Douglas of England made 119 in 1913 there - the top score at the ground.
So who has made the highest Test score at a ground at the most grounds? It's Stephen Fleming. He made 274 not out at Colombo's P Sara Oval in 2003, 192 at Hamilton's Seddon Park, also in 2003, and 262 at Cape Town's Newlands in 2006. The most anyone else has in the table below, and even if we extend it to all 106 Test grounds, is two.
There are only four Test venues where a hundred hasn't been scored, and all of them have hosted only one match each: Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala, Pindi Club Ground in Rawalpindi, Southend Club Cricket Stadium in Karachi, and Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh. The other 16 single-Test grounds have all had a hundred. St George's Park in Port Elizabeth is the venue that has hosted the most Tests without a double-century - 23. The best score there is Herschelle Gibbs' 196 against India in 2001.
The SCG has the oldest record for best bowling in an innings: England's George Lohmann took 8 for 35 in 1887, in the eighth Test at the venue. Lohmann nearly bettered that himself in 1892, when he took 8 for 58. The only bowler to take eight in an innings at the SCG in 86 Tests in the 20th and 21st centuries is Anil Kumble, who took 8 for 141 in 2004.
There are quite a few Test spinners with ground records for best bowling in the table below. Probably because they could bowl for most of the day, and when conditions suited them, there was little competition for wickets. It's probably why none of the great West Indian fast bowlers have any ground records at home. Australian offspinner Ian Johnson holds the record in Guyana - 7 for 44 in 1955; Lance Gibbs' 8 for 38 in 1962 is the best for Barbados; and Jack Noreiga's 9 for 95 in 1971 is the Trinidad record. Jermaine Lawson's 7 for 78 in 2003 and Steve Harmison's 7 for 12 in 2004 are the records for Antigua and Jamaica.
Lord's, the original in London this time, has the second-oldest record for a high score in one-day internationals despite it being a rather low one. Viv Richards' unbeaten 138 in the 1979 World Cup final against England has stood for 33 years. Several people have got close, though.
Out of 180 ODI venues, 11 have a top score by Sachin Tendulkar, the most for any batsman. One of those is the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, where Tendulkar has also scored the highest Test score. The only other batsmen with the best Test and ODI scores at a venue are: Javed Miandad at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad, Roshan Mahanama at Moratuwa and Ian Bell at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire.
The Gabba in Brisbane had three records broken in the previous two seasons. Alastair Cook's 235 not out in the 2010-11 Ashes beat Bradman's 226 against South Africa in 1931; Chris Woakes took 6 for 45 in an ODI against Australia in January 2011, consigning Ian Bishop's 5 for 25 against Pakistan in 1993 to second place; and David Warner made 163 against Sri Lanka in March this year, breaking David Gower's 158 against New Zealand in 1983. For the Gabba's Test bowling record to be broken, however, someone will have to better Richard Hadlee's 9 for 52.
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Travis Basevi is a cricket statistician and UK Senior Programmer for ESPNcricinfo and other ESPN sports websites. George Binoy is an Assistant Editor at ESPNcricinfo