Youngest or oldest for longest

Hasan Raza is the youngest Test cricketer, having made his debut for Pakistan sporting a wispy, adolescent mustache at the age of 14 in 1996. He played only one Test that year, though, and only six more after it. Wilfred Rhodes was the oldest, but played only four Tests for England in 1930, when he was 52. Who's been the baby of the team for the most matches, and who's been the eldest for the longest? It's what we've looked at this week.

Sachin Tendulkar played the most Tests as the youngest of the team - 48 between 1989 and 1999. He scored 3423 runs in those games at an average of 53.48, which is among the 10 best averages by the team's youngest player. The first time Tendulkar wasn't India's youngest was in the Motera Test against South Africa in 1996, when VVS Laxman made his debut at the age of 21. Tendulkar was 23. The last time Tendulkar was India's youngest was in Hamilton in 1999, when he was 25. Tendulkar also played 40 Tests in which he was the youngest player on both sides.

There aren't many cricketers who can play more than 48 Tests as the team's youngest. Stuart Broad, 24, has played 26 Tests, but with Steven Finn and Eoin Morgan in the Ashes squad, he isn't England's baby anymore. Ishant Sharma is 22 and has played 22 Tests as India's youngest player. There isn't anyone younger in the squad for the Australia series either, but it is improbable that Ishant will be India's youngest for another 26. Morne Morkel played 23 matches as the youngest for South Africa but he's much older than rising fast bowler Wayne Parnell.

The player with the best chance of overtaking Tendulkar, however, has a cloud over his future as an international cricketer. Mohammad Amir is 18, and has been the youngest in the Pakistan dressing room for all his 14 Tests. But will he play his 15th?

Most Tests as the youngest player in the team

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5		Career	%
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-1999	48	3423	179	53.48	12	6	2/10	45.83	0		169	28.4
DL Vettori (NZ)	1997-2003	43	884	90	17.00	0	132	7/87	34.33	7		100	43.0
B Lee (Aus)	1999-2006	40	699	64	21.18	0	159	5/47	28.58	5		76	52.6
SR Waugh (Aus)	1985-1991	40	1813	177*	34.86	2	44	5/69	44.86	2		168	23.8
AB de Villiers (SA)	2004-2008	34	2145	178	37.63	4	2	2/49	49.50	0		61	55.7
N Kapil Dev (India)	1978-1983	31	1184	126*	28.87	1	130	7/56	25.89	10		131	23.7
D Ramdin (WI)	2005-2009	29	1133	166	25.75	1	0	-	-	0		42	69.0
S Chanderpaul (WI)	1994-1998	28	1762	137*	46.36	1	5	1/2	111.80	0		126	22.2
SCJ Broad (Eng)	2007-2010	26	843	76	26.34	0	77	6/91	35.38	3		32	81.3
BB McCullum (NZ)	2004-2008	26	1061	111	28.67	1	0	-	-	0		52	50.0
CL Hooper (WI)	1987-1991	26	1109	111	27.72	2	14	2/28	74.92	0		102	25.5
MC Cowdrey (Eng)	1954-1959	26	1603	154	37.27	4	0	-	-	0		114	22.8
RT Ponting (Aus)	1995-1999	26	1526	197	42.38	4	3	1/0	23.00	0		146	17.8
MD Crowe (NZ)	1982-1987	24	1311	188	36.41	2	10	2/29	45.80	0		77	31.2
M Morkel (SA)	2006-2010	23	347	40	12.85	0	81	5/50	30.80	2		26	88.5
I Sharma (India)	2007-2010	22	149	23	9.93	0	61	5/118	36.60	1		26	84.6
AP Sheahan (Aus)	1967-1970	22	1129	114	32.25	1	0	-	-	0		31	71.0
PR Adams (SA)	1995-2000	22	93	29	5.16	0	68	6/55	28.55	1		45	48.9
JN Gillespie (Aus)	1996-2002	22	312	46	14.85	0	87	7/37	22.80	5		71	31.0
Sikander Bakht (Pak)	1976-1981	21	111	22*	6.52	0	59	8/69	33.37	3		26	80.8
MJ Clarke (Aus)	2004-2007	20	1250	151	46.29	4	2	1/8	56.00	0		62	32.3
SP Fleming (NZ)	1994-1997	20	1292	129	39.15	1	0	-	-	0		111	18.0
DI Gower (Eng)	1978-1982	20	1326	200*	47.35	3	0	-	-	0		117	17.1

Former Australian batsman Norm O'Neill made his debut in the 1958 Ashes at the age of 21. He was Australia's youngest player in 12 Tests and he averaged 87.50 in them, the highest in our table. His form when he wasn't the youngest wasn't so hot, though, and he finished with an average of 45 over 42 Tests.

The best bowling record for the youngest player in a team belongs to George Lohmann, who has several bests when it comes to bowling averages. He was England's youngest in only nine Tests but he picked up 49 wickets in them at 10.69 apiece.

Alec Stewart was 26 when he made his debut in 1990, and four years later, in Guyana, he was England's oldest for the first time, in his 35th Test. Stewart's best trait was his professionalism and it served him well - he went on to play 133 Tests, 85 as the oldest cricketer in the team.

Among present cricketers, Paul Collingwood and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are closest to Stewart, relatively speaking, having played 31 and 27 Tests as the oldest for England and West Indies. Chanderpaul's average of 70.20 in those matches is among the highest for players who were the oldest in their team.

Most Tests as the oldest player in the team

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5		Career	%
AJ Stewart (Eng)	1994-2003	85	5473	173	41.46	10	0	-	-	0		133	63.9
AR Border (Aus)	1985-1994	67	4362	205	45.91	8	13	5/68	55.30	1		156	42.9
A Kumble (India)	2001-2008	60	1177	110*	18.10	1	292	8/141	31.58	16		132	45.5
A Ranatunga (SL)	1991-2000	54	2795	131	35.37	1	2	1/29	91.00	0		93	58.1
CA Walsh (WI)	1994-2001	54	258	22	5.26	0	229	7/37	22.96	14		132	40.9
G Boycott (Eng)	1974-1982	50	3956	191	47.66	11	0	-	-	0		108	46.3
CG Greenidge (WI)	1984-1991	47	3030	226	39.35	8	0	-	-	0		108	43.5
SR Waugh (Aus)	1999-2004	43	2512	157*	48.30	9	3	1/2	94.66	0		168	25.6
A Flower (Zim)	1996-2002	39	3308	232*	57.03	9	0	-	-	0		63	61.9
GA Gooch (Eng)	1988-1995	39	3087	210	44.10	8	7	3/39	48.42	0		118	33.1
SK Warne (Aus)	2004-2007	38	916	90	18.69	0	217	6/46	24.75	14		145	26.2
M Azharuddin (India)	1994-2000	37	2195	163*	41.41	8	0	-	-	0		99	37.4
CH Lloyd (WI)	1980-1985	36	2448	161*	56.93	6	0	-	-	0		110	32.7
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak)	2002-2007	35	2674	184	50.45	8	0	-	-	0		120	29.2
Imran Khan (Pak)	1985-1992	33	1640	136	49.69	4	114	7/40	22.74	6		88	37.5
SM Gavaskar (India)	1983-1987	33	2347	236*	46.94	6	0	-	-	0		125	26.4
Mohammad Rafique (Ban)	2002-2008	31	1015	111	19.15	1	91	6/122	42.62	6		33	93.9
PD Collingwood (Eng)	2006-2010	31	2031	161	44.15	6	2	1/34	166.00	0		63	49.2
TW Graveney (Eng)	1962-1969	31	2292	165	52.09	7	0	-	-	0		79	39.2
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1999-2007	30	1571	253	30.80	3	27	5/34	34.40	1		110	27.3
LR Gibbs (WI)	1971-1976	29	151	25	7.94	0	100	7/98	32.32	5		79	36.7
IA Healy (Aus)	1996-1999	29	1304	161*	31.04	2	0	-	-	0		119	24.4

Colin Miller was the oldest Australian cricketer in all of his 18 Tests. No one else has done that over a longer career. Miller made his debut in 1998 at the age of 34 and played until 2001. The three other cricketers with 100% records as their team's oldest are Sri Lanka's Somachandra de Silva (12), Australia's Bob Holland (11) and Bangladesh's Enamul Haque (10).

And then there are those who started their careers as their team's infants, played for years and years and finished with grey hair, wrinkles and sore backs. Steve Waugh, for instance. He was Australia's youngest player in 40 Tests between 1985 and 1991 and then their oldest in 43 from 1999 to 2004. Waugh had about eight years in the middle during which he was neither the youngest nor the oldest, though. Allan Border, on the other hand, was the youngest for only nine Tests, in 1979-80, and in five years he was the oldest. Border went on to play 67 Tests as the oldest member of the side.

There are a few players who went from youngest to oldest faster than Border did. Brian Statham was the youngest in England's Test side in 1955, but by 1959 he was the oldest. The others are Chris Harris (1993 and 1997), Marcus Trescothick (2001 and 2006) and most recently Mohammad Ashraful (2004 and 2009).

Our database doesn't account for differences in time of births if players were born on the same day, so Mark Waugh would have been marginally younger in some of the 40 Tests in which his brother Steve was Australia's youngest player. Ditto for the 27 Tests in which Mark was Australia's oldest player.

Most Tests as the oldest or youngest player in the team

Player	Total		Young	Mat	Runs	Wkts		Old	Mat	Runs	Wkts
AJ Stewart (Eng)	85		-	0	0	0		1994-2003	85	5473	0
SR Waugh (Aus)	83		1985-1991	40	1813	44		1999-2004	43	2512	3
AR Border (Aus)	76		1979-1980	9	712	1		1985-1994	67	4362	13
A Ranatunga (SL)	60		1982-1984	6	244	2		1991-2000	54	2795	2
G Boycott (Eng)	60		1964-1965	10	656	5		1974-1982	50	3956	0
A Kumble (India)	60		-	0	0	0		2001-2008	60	1177	292
CA Walsh (WI)	60		1984-1987	6	30	19		1994-2001	54	258	229
S Chanderpaul (WI)	55		1994-1998	28	1762	5		2005-2010	27	2387	0
N Kapil Dev (India)	50		1978-1983	31	1184	130		1989-1994	19	690	41
SR Tendulkar (India)	50		1989-1999	48	3423	6		2010-2010	2	213	0
CG Greenidge (WI)	47		-	0	0	0		1984-1991	47	3030	0
SM Gavaskar (India)	46		1971-1974	13	1146	0		1983-1987	33	2347	0
CH Lloyd (WI)	45		1966-1969	9	471	2		1980-1985	36	2448	0
RT Ponting (Aus)	44		1995-1999	26	1526	3		2008-2010	18	1321	0
DL Vettori (NZ)	43		1997-2003	43	884	132		-	0	0	0
CL Hooper (WI)	43		1987-1991	26	1109	14		2001-2002	17	1251	16
SK Warne (Aus)	42		1992-1992	4	94	4		2004-2007	38	916	217
Wasim Akram (Pak)	41		1985-1988	15	179	57		1997-2002	26	772	84
GA Gooch (Eng)	41		1975-1975	2	37	0		1988-1995	39	3087	7
B Lee (Aus)	40		1999-2006	40	699	159		-	0	0	0