Harmison's second-innings troubles

A fortnight ago the List compared performances of batsmen between the first and second innings of Test matches and one-day internationals. This week we look at which bowlers have the largest differences in averages between the first and second innings.

Steve Harmison retired prematurely from one-day cricket last year. His record was modest - 67 wickets from 46 matches with an average of 30.70 and an economy of around five an over - but he bowled significantly better while bowling first compared to when defending a target. He took 40 wickets from 21 games when England bowled first, at a strike-rate of 28, and only 27 second-innings wickets in 25 games at an average of 44. Although it's worth noting the statistical quirk where 14 out of the 21 games in which Harmison was bowling first were at home while 12 out of 13 matches in which he bowled second were overseas.

Sri Lanka's Farveez Maharoof is another bowler whose first-innings record is much better than the second. He's already taken 90 wickets in 72 ODIs and though his break-up is pretty even - 47 in the first innings and 43 in the second - his first-innings wickets have cost only 18 apiece while his second-innings average is 33.65.

Biggest difference in bowling average in the 1st innings over the 2nd innings - ODIs (qualification: 1000 balls bowled in each)

Player	Span	Mat		Balls1	Wkts	Ave	5		Balls2	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
JR Ratnayeke (SL)	1982-1990	46		2282	68	26.54	0		1291	17	62.41	0		-35.867
Tauseef Ahmed (Pak)	1982-1990	32		1530	35	31.71	0		1720	20	56.85	0		-25.135
SJ Harmison (Eng)	2003-2006	21		1133	40	21.60	1		1310	27	44.18	0		-22.585
Maninder Singh (India)	1983-1993	35		1788	46	24.67	0		1345	20	46.54	0		-21.876
AJ Bichel (Aus)	1997-2004	31		1521	49	23.57	2		1736	29	45.10	0		-21.532
C Sharma (India)	1983-1994	38		1757	51	30.05	0		1078	16	50.18	0		-20.128
TM Moody (Aus)	1987-1999	37		1380	30	31.80	0		1417	22	48.18	0		-16.381
MF Maharoof (SL)	2004-2007	28		1254	47	18.00	1		1647	43	33.65	0		-15.651
MA Ealham (Eng)	1996-2001	38		2043	47	28.42	1		1184	20	43.04	1		-14.624
PV Simmons (WI)	1987-1999	79		2497	59	30.52	0		1383	24	44.79	0		-14.266

With the exception of Richard Snell and Mohammad Sami in the table below, 12 of the top 14 bowlers who performed better in the second innings are spinners or slow-medium bowlers like Paul Collingwood and Ian Harvey. Left-arm spinner Nicky Boje, who recently signed for Northamptonshire and the Indian Cricket league, was a better performer in both the second innings of Tests and ODIs. Boje took his only five-wicket haul and both his four-fors in ODIs while bowling second and averaged just over 28 for 55 wickets, compared to 45.51 for his 41 first-innings wickets. In Tests, Boje averaged a whopping 63 for 38 wickets in the first innings while his 62 second-innings scalps cost only 30 runs apiece.

Despite being a lower-order batsman, Snell also appeared in our batting list two weeks ago, although for averaging 24.11 with the bat in the first innings and 9.54 in the second, so you'd imagine he'd have little doubt about what he wanted his captain to do upon winning the toss.

Biggest difference in bowling average in the 2nd innings over the 1st innings - ODIs (qualification: 1000 balls bowled in each)

Player	Span	Mat		Balls1	Wkts	Ave	5		Balls2	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
RP Snell (SA)	1991-1996	20		1060	15	54.60	0		1035	29	26.03	1		28.565
Aamer Sohail (Pak)	1991-2000	79		2548	35	58.25	0		2288	50	33.28	0		24.977
MO Odumbe (Kenya)	1996-2003	26		1028	17	57.64	0		1209	22	37.59	0		20.056
SLV Raju (India)	1990-1996	23		1278	21	45.33	0		1492	42	25.28	0		20.047
GW Flower (Zim)	1992-2004	111		3258	51	50.33	0		2162	53	30.56	0		19.767
PD Collingwood (Eng)	2001-2007	57		1512	25	50.75	0		1478	39	31.53	1		19.221
NJ Astle (NZ)	1995-2007	107		2673	44	48.77	0		2177	55	30.23	0		18.536
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	2001-2007	39		2131	47	39.51	0		1963	71	21.12	1		18.383
SO Tikolo (Afr/Kenya)	1996-2007	44		1742	36	41.13	0		1050	33	23.48	0		17.654
IJ Harvey (Aus)	1997-2004	39		1975	38	40.07	0		1304	47	22.42	0		17.653
PL Symcox (SA)	1993-1999	38		1914	28	49.10	0		2077	44	31.52	0		17.584
N Boje (Afr/SA)	1996-2005	62		2509	41	45.51	0		2032	55	28.16	1		17.348
AF Giles (Eng)	1997-2005	27		1308	19	48.15	0		1548	36	32.05	1		16.102
P Utseya (Zim)	2004-2007	33		1866	21	63.85	0		1321	16	48.06	0		15.794

Unexpectedly, two spinners head our table of better first-innings averages compared to the second in Tests. Zimbabwean legspinner Paul Strang and Inshan Ali, the West Indian chinaman bowler, both had terrible records in the second innings and far better stats in the first innings. Ali's career came to an end in the late 1970s when the emphasis in West Indies shifted to all-out pace.

Colin Croft, an integral part of that pace battery, also shared the trend of being more successful in the first innings. Croft took 81 of his 125 career wickets at an average of just under 19 in the first, whilst in the second he was less potent with 44 wickets coming at 32 apiece, still respectable.

Biggest difference in bowling average in the 1st innings over the 2nd innings - Tests (qualification: 2000 balls in 1st inns, 1500 in 2nd)

Player	Span	Mat		Balls1	Wkts	Ave	5		Balls2	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
PA Strang (Zim)	1994-2001	24		3986	58	29.62	4		1734	12	67.00	0		-37.379
Inshan Ali (WI)	1971-1977	12		2078	23	38.69	1		1640	11	66.45	0		-27.758
GP Wickramasinghe (SL)	1991-2001	40		5370	72	37.76	3		1890	13	64.61	0		-26.851
RC Motz (NZ)	1961-1969	32		4651	79	26.53	5		2383	21	50.09	0		-23.563
CG Borde (India)	1958-1969	55		4084	42	42.69	1		1611	10	62.40	0		-19.709
CS Martin (NZ)	2000-2006	33		4302	84	30.21	6		1886	22	49.90	1		-19.694
DBL Powell (WI)	2002-2007	22		2732	41	38.82	1		1609	15	56.73	0		-17.904
BD Julien (WI)	1973-1977	24		2767	36	32.69	1		1775	14	49.35	0		-16.662
RJ Ratnayake (SL)	1983-1992	23		3396	56	31.37	3		1565	17	47.41	2		-16.036
BR Knight (Eng)	1961-1969	29		3512	51	27.49	0		1865	19	43.21	0		-15.720
Mushtaq Mohammad (Pak)	1959-1979	57		3129	55	24.50	1		2131	24	40.04	2		-15.532

Andy Caddick's contrast between his first and second innings figures was well-known during his Test career, and out of players with at least 200 career wickets, no one had a larger difference. He took 131 of those wickets in the first innings, including five five-fors, at an average of 37, but was far more effective the second time around with 103 wickets at an average of just under 21 with eight five-wicket hauls, including his final Test analysis of 7/94 in the win against Australia at Sydney in 2002-03.

Biggest difference in bowling average in the 2nd innings over the 1st innings - Tests (qualification: 2000 balls in 1st inns, 1500 in 2nd)

Player	Span	Mat		Balls1	Wkts	Ave	5		Balls2	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
IVA Richards (WI)	1974-1991	121		2215	10	93.20	0		2955	22	46.90	0		46.290
N Boje (SA)	2000-2006	43		4610	38	63.07	1		4010	62	30.12	2		32.949
JC White (Eng)	1921-1931	15		3003	19	49.84	1		1798	30	21.13	2		28.708
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2006	26		3315	33	59.63	0		1542	25	31.07	1		28.556
GRJ Matthews (Aus)	1983-1993	33		4466	38	57.42	1		1805	23	33.04	1		24.377
L Klusener (SA)	1996-2004	49		4056	38	50.39	0		2831	42	26.61	1		23.775
RJ Bright (Aus)	1977-1986	25		3882	32	50.43	2		1659	21	26.95	2		23.485
JG Bracewell (NZ)	1980-1990	41		5100	47	48.21	0		3303	55	25.21	4		22.994
WR Hammond (Eng)	1927-1947	85		4504	37	49.94	0		3465	46	28.04	2		21.902
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	2001-2007	30		4392	46	56.65	0		1860	31	34.83	2		21.813