Sangakkara's appetite for the huge hundred

One of our readers, John Melville, wrote in with an idea last week - ranking batsmen by their non-century average. We took it a little further and explored which batsmen score really big when they pass hundred and which ones have a higher average in innings below three-figures. The not-outs skewed the averages in favour of players with unbeaten hundreds, so we decided to look at both the conventional average and the runs-per-innings figure, which simply divides the total runs scored by the total number of innings batted (without excluding not-outs).

Andy Flower has a skyscraper for an average in the innings in which he's passed 100. He remained unbeaten seven times in 12 centuries (no doubt he ran out of partners) and has a century-average of 340. Look deeper and you'll find he hit only one double-hundred and passed 150 just thrice. He left Don Bradman trailing in his wake as well. Bradman is ninth with an average of 234.47 because only six of his hundreds were not-outs. In the runs-per-innings table, though, Bradman leads the way with 185.96, thanks to ten double-hundreds, two triple-centuries, and six scores between 150 and 199.

Highest runs per innings when making a century - Tests (qualification: 10 tons)

Player	Span	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	RPI
DG Bradman (Aus)	1928-1948	29	6	5393	334	185.96
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1969-1985	12	2	2158	274	179.83
KC Sangakkara (SL)	2000-2006	12	4	2128	287	177.33
V Sehwag (India)	2001-2007	12	0	2119	309	176.58
BC Lara (WI)	1990-2006	34	2	5889	400*	173.20
DL Amiss (Eng)	1966-1977	11	3	1879	262*	170.81
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1991-2006	14	0	2356	340	168.28
WR Hammond (Eng)	1927-1947	22	7	3685	336*	167.50
RB Simpson (Aus)	1957-1978	10	0	1646	311	164.60
GC Smith (SA)	2002-2007	11	1	1782	277	162.00

One player who is ranked high in both tables is Kumar Sangakkara. He averages 266 when he passes 100 in spite of having only four not-outs in 12 innings. He's passed 200 four times and has three scores between 150 and 199 as well. His runs per innings of 177.33 is only eight less than the Don. After a string of centuries that read 230, 270, 232, 138, 157 not out, 185 and 287, Sangakkara's last two hundreds were unbeaten scores of 100 and 156. If he'd been allowed to continue, you can bet that he'd have piled on a lot more.

Two batsmen with similar batting styles - a lazy stylishness that was extremely easy on the eye - appear on the list for lowest runs per innings. Mark Waugh hit 20 hundreds but never made more than 153 each time giving him an average of 120.6. Damien Martyn also managed a highest of only 165 in 13 centuries with only two undefeated centuries.

Lowest average when making a century - Tests (qualification: 10 tons)

Player	Span	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave
AJ Strauss (Eng)	2004-2007	10	0	1265	147	126.50
MA Atherton (Eng)	1989-2001	16	1	2034	185*	135.60
Mushtaq Mohammad (Pak)	1959-1979	10	1	1232	201	136.88
MJ Slater (Aus)	1993-2001	14	0	1917	219	136.92
WM Lawry (Aus)	1961-1971	13	0	1794	210	138.00
MC Cowdrey (Eng)	1954-1975	22	2	2778	182	138.90
CL Walcott (WI)	1948-1960	15	1	2000	220	142.85
DR Martyn (Aus)	1992-2006	13	2	1594	165	144.90
ME Trescothick (Eng)	2000-2006	14	0	2032	219	145.14
AI Kallicharran (WI)	1972-1981	12	2	1467	187	146.70

Viv Richards heads the ODI table for highest runs-per-innings with 1486 runs accumulated through 11 centuries. His performance is further highlighted when we look at the batsmen below him, all of whom played the bulk of their cricket in the 1990s and the 2000s, when conditions became significantly more batsman-friendly.

Andrew Symonds is second in the table with 657 runs from five hundreds. The fact that three of them were unbeaten elevates him to No 5 on the averages list as well. Take a look at the six names that follow him: all left-handers. Mere coincidence or is it QED that lefties have a bigger appetite for large scores?

Highest runs per innings when making a century - ODIs (qualification: 5 tons)

Player	Span	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	RPI
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	11	6	1486	189*	135.09
A Symonds (Aus)	1998-2007	5	3	657	156	131.40
CH Gayle (WI)	1999-2007	15	6	1881	153*	125.40
SC Ganguly (India)	1992-2007	22	10	2731	183	124.13
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1989-2007	23	5	2848	189	123.82
S Chanderpaul (WI)	1994-2007	5	3	617	150	123.40
BC Lara (WI)	1990-2007	19	4	2335	169	122.89
AC Gilchrist (Aus)	1996-2007	14	1	1708	172	122.00
GA Gooch (Eng)	1976-1995	8	3	974	142	121.75
DL Haynes (WI)	1978-1994	17	11	2067	152*	121.58

Michael Bevan's low position in the batting order meant that opportunities to score a hundred were rare and the chance to score a huge century, rarer. It explains why Bevan's runs-per-innings - 104.50 - when he scored a hundred is the second lowest among all batsmen. To his credit, Bevan has the highest average for innings without a century. He averages a massive 49.88 excluding his hundreds and has remained not-out a staggering 64 times. Dean Jones in second place is a distant nine runs behind.

Highest average when not making a century - ODIs (qualification: 5 tons)

Player	Span	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave
MG Bevan (Aus)	1994-2004	190	64	6285	87*	49.88
DM Jones (Aus)	1984-1994	154	23	5271	99*	40.23
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	156	18	5235	98	37.93
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1975-1996	210	36	6502	91*	37.36
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1974-1985	53	5	1793	97	37.35
JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA)	1996-2007	218	34	6871	98*	37.34
DR Martyn (Aus)	1992-2006	177	47	4781	95*	36.77
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/Pak)	1991-2007	333	47	10428	91*	36.46
CG Greenidge (WI)	1975-1991	116	8	3936	98*	36.44
ML Hayden (Aus/ICC)	1993-2007	119	13	3811	99	35.95