Habitual winners and losers

Australia's tour of the Caribbean will be their first overseas Test assignment since the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn. Players such as Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey haven't yet been involved in series they have lost, or even drawn: Australia have won all seven series that Symonds and Hussey have played in. West Indian allrounder Dwayne Bravo, on the other hand, is yet to be part of a series win despite nine attempts. This week we look at players who have the best and worst series records.

Given Australia's recent dominance, it isn't surprising to see Hussey and Symonds in the table of players who have featured in most series wins. However, Clive Eksteen at third spot is quite a surprise. Eksteen, a left-arm spinner, played only seven Tests that spanned six different series, all of which South Africa won. He made his debut on the tour of Sri Lanka in 1993, a series which South Africa won 1-0, and then was involved in series against New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the 1994-95 season. He played his last Test on the tour of India in 1999-2000, which South Africa won 2-0.

The table of highest percentage of series wins is an Australian preserve: Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke have played 12 and 11 series respectively and won over 90% of them. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden have played 30 and 31 series respectively, out of which Australia have lost only two, against India in 2000-01 and the Ashes in 2005. The first non-Australian player on the list is Joel Garner, who is at No. 10. Garner played in 15 series, out of which West Indies lost only one, in New Zealand in 1979-80.

If Australia manage to beat West Indies in the upcoming series, Stuart MacGill will equal Jeff Dujon's record of having played the most series without losing even one. Dujon was involved in 19 series out of which West Indies won 12 and drew seven. MacGill has currently played 18 series, out of which Australia have won 16 and drawn two, in West Indies in 1998-99 and at home against India in 2003-04.

The table of the lowest percentages of series lost is dominated by members of the West Indian outfit of the 1980s. Apart from Dujon: Gus Logie, Roger Harper and Patrick Patterson have also not lost a series, while Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson and Malcolm Marshall all played over 20 series each with only one defeat.

New Zealand's Bert Sutcliffe holds the record for playing the most Tests - 42 - without being part of a winning team. However, the record for playing the most series without a win belongs to another New Zealander, John Reid, who played 18 series between 1947 and 1965, out of which New Zealand lost 14 and drew four.

The Strang brothers, Bryan and Paul, have also never been part of a series-winning Zimbabwe team. Bryan's record is similar to Reid's, having lost 14 and drawn four of his 18 series, while Paul lost ten and drew four.

Manjural Islam has played 17 Tests in 11 series and Bangladesh has lost each of them. Manjural's Bangladesh team-mates feature prominently in the table of players with 100% series-defeat records. Two New Zealanders who had almost overlapping careers, Alex Moir and Tony MacGibbon, also lost all the series they were involved in. Moir played nine series between 1951 and 1959, while MacGibbon was involved in eight between 1951 and 1958.