Who's played at the most venues?
Which cricketer has played at the most Test venues? Steve Waugh or Allan Border, who've played over 150 Tests apiece?
Travis Basevi and George Binoy
19-Mar-2008
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Which cricketer has played at the most Test venues? Is it Steve Waugh or Allan Border, who've played 168 and 156 Tests respectively? Who has treated the most number of crowds to hundreds? Which batsmen have scored all their centuries at different venues? And which bowler has taken five-wicket hauls at the most cricket grounds? Read on to find out.
Even though Waugh and Border have played the most Tests, the list of players who've played at the most venues is dominated by Indians: Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Mohammad Azharuddin, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid occupy five of the top six positions - even though some of them have played significantly fewer Tests than the two Australians. Waugh has played at 43 venues compared to Tendulkar's 54, while Border has played at only 36 fewer even than Ravi Shastri and Hashan Tillakaratne, who played 80 and 83 Tests respectively at 41 and 40 grounds. One of the reasons for the Asian dominance is that countries like India and Pakistan have had 19 and 16 Test venues compared to Australia and England, which have had nine and eight.
Tendulkar has scored his 39 Test hundreds at 28 venues, making him the batsman with centuries at the most venues. He's made hundreds in nine of the ten countries he's played in, with Zimbabwe being the only place where he has missed out.
| Player | Span | Mat | Cou |
|---|
Gro
Eng
Aus
SA
WI
NZ
Ind
Pak
SL
Zim
BD
Oth
SR Tendulkar (India)
1989-2008
146
10
54
6
5
5
5
5
12
6
4
2
4
0
A Kumble (India)
1990-2008
125
10
50
6
4
5
7
2
11
5
4
2
4
0
M Azharuddin (India)
1984-2000
99
9
48
6
5
4
5
5
14
4
4
1
0
0
N Kapil Dev (India)
1978-1994
131
9
47
5
5
4
5
5
14
5
3
1
0
0
Inzamam-ul-Haq (ICC/Pak)
1992-2007
120
11
47
5
4
5
5
4
5
9
5
2
2
1
R Dravid (ICC/India)
1996-2008
119
10
47
4
5
5
7
2
9
5
4
2
4
0
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)
1992-2007
118
10
46
5
5
4
4
5
7
6
6
2
2
0
S Chanderpaul (WI)
1994-2008
107
11
46
6
6
5
8
5
4
5
2
2
2
1
Wasim Akram (Pak)
1985-2002
104
10
45
5
6
2
4
5
6
9
5
2
1
0
BC Lara (ICC/WI)
1990-2006
131
9
45
6
6
5
9
5
3
5
4
2
0
0
SK Warne (Aus)
1992-2007
145
11
44
6
8
5
4
4
5
3
5
1
2
1
PA de Silva (SL)
1984-2002
93
10
43
4
5
2
2
5
9
6
7
2
1
0
SR Waugh (Aus)
1985-2004
168
10
43
6
8
5
5
4
4
5
4
1
0
1
Waqar Younis (Pak)
1989-2003
87
11
43
5
5
4
4
4
2
10
4
2
2
1
ME Waugh (Aus)
1991-2002
128
10
43
6
6
5
5
4
5
4
6
1
0
1
There are three other batsmen with hundreds in nine Test nations - Waugh never scored one in Sri Lanka. Mohammad Yousuf missed out in Sri Lanka and South Africa, while Inzamam-ul-Haq did not score a century in either UAE or South Africa. Dravid is the only player to have scored centuries in all ten countries he's played in while Ken Barrington and Colin Cowdrey scored hundreds in all seven countries that had Test status during their careers.
Barrington didn't have a favourite ground and spread his centuries around, scoring his 20 Test hundreds on 18 grounds . Adelaide and Trinidad were the only places where he made more than one hundred each. Don Bradman played his 52 Tests on ten grounds and scored tons on nine of them. The only venue at which he failed was Old Trafford, where he averaged 27 in three matches with a high score of 30.
| Player | Span | Mat |
|---|
100s
Cou
Gro
Cou w/ 100s
Gro w/ 100s
% w/ 100s
DG Bradman (Aus)
1928-1948
52
29
2
10
2
9
90.00
KF Barrington (Eng)
1955-1968
82
20
7
28
7
18
64.28
MEK Hussey (Aus)
2005-2008
22
8
3
11
2
7
63.63
AD Nourse (SA)
1935-1951
34
9
2
10
2
6
60.00
WR Hammond (Eng)
1927-1947
85
22
5
20
4
12
60.00
GA Headley (WI)
1930-1954
22
10
4
12
3
7
58.33
AL Hassett (Aus)
1938-1953
43
10
4
14
3
8
57.14
IVA Richards (WI)
1974-1991
121
24
6
30
5
17
56.66
AR Morris (Aus)
1946-1955
46
12
4
16
4
9
56.25
RN Harvey (Aus)
1948-1963
79
21
6
27
5
15
55.55
GS Chappell (Aus)
1970-1984
87
24
6
22
5
12
54.54
SR Tendulkar (India)
1989-2008
146
39
10
54
9
28
51.85
SM Gavaskar (India)
1971-1987
125
34
7
37
6
19
51.35
CAG Russell (Eng)
1920-1923
10
5
3
8
3
4
50.00
WH Ponsford (Aus)
1924-1934
29
7
2
10
2
5
50.00
Three batsmen - Ted Dexter , Navjot Sidhu and Stephen Fleming - have scored nine centuries in Tests, all at different venues. The majority of batsmen thrive in familiar conditions at home, but not Fleming, whose 53 Tests in New Zealand have produced only two centuries.
Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 62 five-wicket hauls in Tests which is miles ahead of second-placed Shane Warne, who has 37. However, Murali's 62 five-fors have been taken at 23 venues, which is only three more than Warne's 20 grounds for his 37.
Syd Barnes played at ten Test venues throughout his career and picked up a stunning 24 five-wicket hauls in 27 Tests, including at least one at all the venues he played at - the only bowler to perform such a feat. Clarrie Grimmett is second, having taken five-fors at 11 of the 13 grounds he played Tests at.
5wi
Cou
Gro
Cou w/ 5wi
Gro w/ 5wi
% w/ 5wi
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)
1992-2007
118
62
10
46
9
23
50.00
SK Warne (Aus)
1992-2007
145
37
11
44
9
20
45.45
Wasim Akram (Pak)
1985-2002
104
25
10
45
8
20
44.44
GD McGrath (Aus)
1993-2007
124
29
10
43
6
18
41.86
A Kumble (India)
1990-2008
125
35
10
50
6
18
36.00
RJ Hadlee (NZ)
1973-1990
86
36
7
30
6
17
56.66
N Kapil Dev (India)
1978-1994
131
23
9
47
5
17
36.17
Imran Khan (Pak)
1971-1992
88
23
7
34
6
16
47.05
Waqar Younis (Pak)
1989-2003
87
22
11
43
8
16
37.20
MD Marshall (WI)
1978-1991
81
22
6
30
5
15
50.00
CA Walsh (WI)
1984-2001
132
22
8
37
7
15
40.54
GD McKenzie (Aus)
1961-1971
60
16
6
26
6
13
50.00
BS Chandrasekhar (India)
1964-1979
58
16
6
26
5
13
50.00
R Benaud (Aus)
1952-1964
63
16
6
26
5
12
46.15
IT Botham (Eng)
1977-1992
102
27
7
26
5
12
46.15
Unlike Dravid, who scored centuries in all ten Test-playing countries, no bowler has managed to take five-fors in more than nine nations. Warne took five-wicket hauls in all countries barring West Indies, where he played seven Tests, and Zimbabwe, where he played just the one Test. Murali has taken five in each country apart from Australia, where he averages 75 for his 12 wickets in five Tests.
5wi
Cou
Gro
Cou w/ 5wi
Gro w/ 5wi
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)
1992-2007
118
62
10
46
9
23
SK Warne (Aus)
1992-2007
145
37
11
44
9
20
Wasim Akram (Pak)
1985-2002
104
25
10
45
8
20
Waqar Younis (Pak)
1989-2003
87
22
11
43
8
16
CA Walsh (WI)
1984-2001
132
22
8
37
7
15
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak)
1995-2004
49
13
11
32
7
10
GD McKenzie (Aus)
1961-1971
60
16
6
26
6
13
DL Underwood (Eng)
1966-1982
86
17
7
28
6
11
Imran Khan (Pak)
1971-1992
88
23
7
34
6
16
RJ Hadlee (NZ)
1973-1990
86
36
7
30
6
17
CL Cairns (NZ)
1989-2004
62
13
7
27
6
11
A Kumble (India)
1990-2008
125
35
10
50
6
18
GD McGrath (Aus)
1993-2007
124
29
10
43
6
18
SM Pollock (SA)
1995-2008
108
16
10
41
6
11
Shoaib Akhtar (Pak)
1997-2007
46
12
10
25
6
9
Click here for the full tables.
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Travis Basevi is the man who built Statsguru. George Binoy is an editorial assistant on Cricinfo