Unsated by a century

One of our readers, David Wildman, had an unusual request. He wanted to know which batsmen have the best average in innings immediately after scoring a century. Normally we have a fair idea of what our answers will look like (before we find them), but with this one we didn't have much of a clue. We also checked out the other side of the coin - which batsmen average the least in innings immediately following a hundred.

For a minimum of five career tons, it turned out that former Indian captain Vijay Hazare is No. 1 on the Test list, his average of 100.66 in innings right after he scored a century being greater than that of Don Bradman. Bradman, though, maintained his average of 95.24 across 29 innings (since he made 29 hundreds), while Hazare did it for only seven. Hazare followed up his first century, against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 1948, with another one - 145 - during the follow-on, after which he scored 74 in the first innings of the MCG Test. In December that year he scored 59 against West Indies in Kolkata, right after making 134 in Mumbai. What really boosted Hazare's average, though, was his hat-trick of hundreds - 122, 164 not out and 155, followed by 6 - against West Indies and England even though those matches were more than a year apart.

Former West Indies batsman Everton Weekes had an average of nearly 98 in innings immediately after those in which he scored a hundred. That stat, however, was primarily due to Weekes' world record of five consecutive centuries against England and India in 1948. He also scored three consecutive hundreds against New Zealand in 1956, and followed up four of his other hundreds with half-centuries.

Among current batsmen, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is the only one in the top 10. He has scored six hundreds (he hasn't batted after his 167 in Wellington) and his scores in the innings after those centuries are 41, 206, 36, 97, and 23.

NO Runs HS Ave 100 50

Career Diff VS Hazare (India)

1946-1953 7 1 604 164* 100.66

3 2 47.65 53.01

ED Weekes (WI) 1948-1958 15 2 1273 194

97.92 6 4 58.61 39.30

DG Bradman (Aus) 1928-1948 29 4 2381

299* 95.24 10 4 99.94

-4.70 KF Barrington (Eng) 1955-1968 20

4 1476 163 92.25 7 5

58.67 33.57 LG Rowe (WI) 1972-1980

7 1 546 302 91.00 2

1 43.55 47.44 H Sutcliffe (Eng)

1924-1935 16 4 1063 176 88.58

6 3 60.73 27.85

SJ McCabe (Aus) 1930-1938 6 2 343 232

85.75 1 0 48.21 37.53

G Gambhir (India) 2004-2009 5 0

403 206 80.06 1 1

52.02 28.58 Shoaib Mohammad (Pak) 1983-1995 7 1 480

112 80.00 2 2 44.34

35.65 WR Hammond (Eng) 1927-1947 22 3

1494 336* 78.63 5 2

58.45 20.17 Zaheer Abbas (Pak) 1969-1985 12

2 783 186 78.30 2 3

44.79 33.50 WJ Edrich (Eng) 1938-1955

6 1 379 191 75.80 1

2 40.00 35.79 Javed Miandad (Pak)

1976-1993 23 5 1334 280* 74.11

3 5 52.57 21.53

CL Walcott (WI) 1948-1960 15 3 869 118

72.41 4 3 56.68 15.73

R Dravid (ICC/India) 1996-2009 26 5 1520

217 72.38 6 8 52.58

19.79 W Bardsley (Aus) 1909-1926 6 0

424 132 70.66 2 2

40.47 30.19 TT Samaraweera (SL) 2001-2009 8

3 351 127 70.20 1 1

51.07 19.12 CG Macartney (Aus) 1907-1926

7 1 417 151 69.50 2

1 41.78 27.71 DN Sardesai (India)

1961-1972 5 1 273 112 68.25

2 0 39.23 29.01

WH Ponsford (Aus) 1924-1934 7 0 476 266

68.00 2 0 48.22 19.77

Another Indian batsman, Vijay Manjrekar, heads the list of batsmen with the lowest Test averages in innings immediately after a century. Manjrekar scored seven hundreds in his 55-Test career, and followed them with scores of 0, 18, 0, 1, 24 and 0. His last century came in his final Test, against New Zealand in Chennai in 1965.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain fared poorly in each of his 13 innings right after he scored a hundred. Hussain aggregated only 220 runs at an average of just under 17 in such innings. His scores were 19, 48, 0, 19, 2, 35, 4, 15, 15, 11, 12, 10 and 30. He too ended his career with a hundred, against New Zealand, at Lord's in 2004.

Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100

50 Career Diff

VL Manjrekar (India) 1951-1965 6 0 43 24

7.16 0 0 39.12 -31.95

KR Stackpole (Aus) 1966-1974 7 0 70

24 10.00 0 0 37.42

-27.42 RM Cowper (Aus) 1964-1968 5 0

57 41 11.40 0 0

46.84 -35.44 FE Woolley (Eng) 1909-1934 5

0 59 46 11.80 0 0

36.07 -24.27 A Flintoff (Eng/ICC) 1998-2009

5 0 62 26 12.40 0

0 31.69 -19.29 MH Mankad (India)

1946-1959 5 0 69 27 13.80

0 0 31.47 -17.67

MAK Pataudi (India) 1961-1975 6 0 85 31

14.16 0 0 34.91 -20.74

Mohammad Ashraful (Ban) 2001-2009 5 0 75

45 15.00 0 0 23.87

-8.87 N Hussain (Eng) 1990-2004 13 0

220 48 16.92 0 0

37.18 -20.26 KR Miller (Aus) 1946-1956 7

1 103 44 17.16 0 0

36.97 -19.80 GA Hick (Eng) 1991-2001

6 0 104 47 17.33 0

0 31.32 -13.99 GN Yallop (Aus)

1976-1984 8 0 140 33 17.50

0 0 41.13 -23.63

DW Randall (Eng) 1977-1984 7 0 131 53

18.71 0 1 33.37 -14.66

PE Richardson (Eng) 1956-1963 5 0 98

37 19.60 0 0 37.47

-17.87 PJL Dujon (WI) 1981-1991 5 0

100 81 20.00 0 1

31.94 -11.94 MV Boucher (ICC/SA) 1997-2009 5

1 87 36 21.75 0 0

29.85 -8.10 JF Reid (NZ) 1979-1986

6 0 131 74 21.83 0

1 46.28 -24.45 HW Taylor (SA)

1912-1932 7 0 153 117 21.85

1 0 40.77 -18.92

N Kapil Dev (India) 1978-1994 8 1 158 62

22.57 0 1 31.05 -8.48

DL Amiss (Eng) 1966-1977 11 0 249

79 22.63 0 1 46.30

-23.67

Gambhir, incidentally, also ranks among the top 10 batsmen with highest averages in innings after scoring centuries in ODIs. He has six hundreds in 74 matches and has scored 28, 80 not out, 21, 63 not out, 40 and 13 in innings after each of them, aggregating 245 runs at an average of 61.25.

Former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf is No. 1 in ODIs, averaging 107.25 in 15 innings after a century. Seven unbeaten innings among the 15 helps raise the figure, but his scores are nevertheless impressive: 55 not out, 8 not out, 90 not out, 39, 125, 76 not out, 88, 65, 30, 2, 79, 58 not out and 108 not out.

Highest average in innings following a hundred - ODIs (qualification: 5 career hundreds)

Player

Span Inns NO Runs HS Ave

100 50 Career Diff

Mohammad Yousuf (Asia/Pak) 1998-2008 15 7 858

125 107.25 2 7 43.18

64.06 NV Knight (Eng) 1996-2003 5 1

298 125* 74.50 1 2

40.41 34.08 ML Hayden (Aus/ICC) 1993-2008 10

2 530 158 66.25 1 2

43.80 22.44 CG Greenidge (WI) 1975-1991

11 2 591 133* 65.66 1

4 45.03 20.63 Zaheer Abbas (Pak)

1974-1985 7 1 371 113 61.83

2 1 47.62 14.20

G Gambhir (India) 2003-2009 6 2 245 80*

61.25 0 2 38.43 22.81

BC Lara (ICC/WI) 1990-2007 19 4 880

116 58.66 3 5 40.48

18.18 Saeed Anwar (Pak) 1989-2003 20 3

995 131 58.52 5 3

39.21 19.31 GA Hick (Eng) 1991-2001 5

1 230 109 57.50 1 1

37.33 20.16 JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) 1996-2009

16 4 684 125* 57.00 1

5 45.30 11.69 KP Pietersen (Eng/ICC)

2004-2009 7 1 313 116 52.16

1 1 46.65 5.51

M Azharuddin (India) 1985-2000 7 2 252 78*

50.40 0 2 36.92 13.47

S Chanderpaul (WI) 1994-2009 10 2 395

149* 49.37 1 2 41.68

7.68 HH Gibbs (SA) 1996-2009 20 3

839 153 49.35 3 3

36.04 13.31 R Dravid (Asia/ICC/India) 1996-2007 12

1 536 145 48.72 1 4

39.49 9.23 Saleem Malik (Pak) 1982-1999

5 1 191 74 47.75 0

1 32.88 14.86 IVA Richards (WI)

1975-1991 11 2 419 97 46.55

0 4 47.00 -0.44

GA Gooch (Eng) 1976-1995 8 1 312 117*

44.57 1 1 36.98 7.58

DI Gower (Eng) 1978-1991 7 0 312

158 44.57 1 1 30.77

13.79 GR Marsh (Aus) 1986-1992 9 1

349 106* 43.62 1 2

39.97 3.65

Two explosive modern-day entertainers are among the top 10 batsmen with the lowest ODI averages in innings immediately after a century, an indication, perhaps, of their hit-or-miss approach. Adam Gilchrist scored 16 ODI hundreds but managed only one score of above 50 in innings immediately following them. In those innings he aggregated only 320 runs at an average of 20.

Virender Sehwag averages better than Gilchrist, but his 27.18 is still below his career figure of 34.33. Sehwag has scored 11 ODI hundreds and has scores of 4, 59, 4, 7, 4, 5, 74, 48, 49, 4 and 40 in the succeeding innings.

Lowest average in innings following a hundred - ODIs (qualification: 5 career hundreds)

Player Span Inns NO Runs

HS Ave 100 50 Career

Diff DC Boon (Aus) 1984-1995 5

0 36 27 7.20 0 0

37.04 -29.84 MG Bevan (Aus) 1994-2004

6 0 88 45 14.66 0

0 53.58 -38.91 ADR Campbell (Zim)

1992-2003 7 0 138 68 19.71

0 2 30.50 -10.78

AC Gilchrist (Aus/ICC) 1996-2008 16 0 320 52

20.00 0 1 35.89 -15.89

RB Richardson (WI) 1983-1996 5 0 112

38 22.40 0 0 33.41

-11.01 WU Tharanga (Asia/SL) 2005-2009 6 0

163 110 27.16 1 0

30.25 -3.08 V Sehwag (Asia/ICC/India) 1999-2009 11

0 299 74 27.18 0 2

34.33 -7.15 DR Martyn (Aus) 1992-2006

5 1 109 74 27.25 0

1 40.80 -13.55 Younis Khan (Pak)

2000-2009 6 0 165 67 27.50

0 2 34.01 -6.51

ME Trescothick (Eng) 2000-2006 12 0 341 119

28.41 1 1 37.37 -8.95

GC Smith (Afr/SA) 2002-2008 7 0 202

103 28.85 1 0 40.88

-12.03 Shoaib Malik (Pak) 1999-2009 6 0

177 52 29.50 0 1

35.70 -6.20 PA de Silva (SL) 1984-2003 11

1 297 75* 29.70 0 2

34.90 -5.20 CL Hooper (WI) 1987-2003

7 2 150 76* 30.00 0

1 35.34 -5.34 SC Ganguly (Asia/India)

1992-2007 22 1 633 117 30.14

1 3 41.02 -10.87

NJ Astle (NZ) 1995-2007 16 0 492 95

30.75 0 5 34.92 -4.17

DM Jones (Aus) 1984-1994 7 0 219

121 31.28 1 1 44.61

-13.33 Rameez Raja (Pak) 1985-1997 9 1

254 107* 31.75 1 0

32.09 -0.34 MS Atapattu (SL) 1990-2007 11

0 355 66 32.27 0 4

37.57 -5.29 SP Fleming (ICC/NZ) 1994-2007

8 1 227 70* 32.42 0

1 32.40 0.02