Coventry's 194, and other unexpected innings

Would you have bet on Charles Coventry improving on Saeed Anwar's 194, the highest individual score in ODIs, by equalling it and remaining unbeaten, when better batsmen with more formidable records - Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar, to name only three - had merely got close? Coventry had played only 13 innings and scored 301 runs before his 194 not out against Bangladesh in Bulawayo, and was averaging 23.15 at the time. In this week's column we've looked at batsmen with the lowest averages before they scored a fifty and a century in ODIs and Tests.

The player with the lowest batting average before scoring a Test half-century is New Zealand fast bowler Bob Blair, who is best remembered for coming out to bat on Boxing Day in Johannesburg 1953, hours after learning of his fiancé's death in a train crash at home. Until he scored an unbeaten 64 against England in Wellington in 1963, Blair had reached double figures only once in 25 innings, and averaged 4.23 - two runs fewer than what Glenn McGrath did when he scored his first and only fifty, against New Zealand at the Gabba in 2004.

What memorable feat has Ajit Agarkar achieved with the bat in Test cricket that Tendulkar hasn't? Apart from making five consecutive ducks, Agarkar is also on the honours board at Lord's, for scoring a Test century. His record up to that match in 2002 was unflattering: 127 runs in 18 innings at an average of 7.47, with eight ducks. Agarkar then struck 109 in a hopeless run-chase and lifted his average by six runs.

Bill Edrich possessed an average of 8 after having accumulated 88 runs in 11 innings before he scored a double-century in the 1939 timeless Test between England and South Africa in Durban. It was the longest match ever, spanning 10 days, and Edrich scored 219 as England threatened to do the impossible by chasing down a target of 696. Only the last of several rain interruptions forced the captains to agree to a draw with England 42 runs away from victory, with five wickets in hand. They had the good ship Athlone Castle to catch.

Syd Gregory had reached double figures only once and averaged 10.00 in 11 innings before the first Ashes Test at the SCG in 1894. He turned that record around by scoring 201 in the first innings as Australia piled up 586 and appeared set for victory after England were dismissed for 325. The visitors, however, rallied in the second innings and posted 437, paving the way for the first instance of a team winning after following-on. It's happened only twice since.

Batting in one-day internationals was not something Michael Holding did very often - he was needed only 42 times in 102 matches. He was averaging 5.80 after 28 innings when he blitzed 64 off 39 balls against Australia and nearly took West Indies to victory at the WACA in 1984. That innings lifted his average to 8.45, but it dropped to 7.63 before his next half-century, which also came in Perth: Holding made 53 off 35 balls to lead West Indies to 255 for 8 and then took three wickets to help bowl out Australia for 91 in 1987.

Xavier Marshall's one-day record is poor - 375 runs in 24 innings at an average of below 18 - and if you take away one innings against Canada, its quality plummets even further. Marshall averaged 9.75 in his first 16 innings but inflated that figure by plundering 157 off 118 balls in King City in 2008. He's scored 62 runs in seven innings since.

Herschelle Gibbs had a slow beginning to both his Test and ODI careers. He averaged 21.22 with a high score of 51 after 22 Test innings, before scoring 211 against New Zealand in Christchurch in March 1999. A couple of months earlier, Gibbs had ended his poor start in ODIs - high score of 35 after 19 innings - with 125 against West Indies in Port Elizabeth.

Coventry's record-surpassing effort appears in our table of lowest averages for batsmen before scoring a 150 in ODIs. His 194 not out lifted his average from 23.15 to 38.07, but unfortunately for him, it also broke the record for the highest individual score in a losing cause.

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