Homesickness, and those who don't suffer from it

Makhaya Ntini's first assignment after a successful home season - in which he took 39 wickets at 21.43 apiece - was a challenging tour of Sri Lanka. Having revelled on the fast and bouncy tracks in South Africa - the lasting memory being Justin Langer tottering off after getting thwacked on the head - Ntini huffed and puffed to get the ball above the hips and was far from blowing Sri Lanka's house down. He toiled for 59.2 overs and took only five wickets at 38.80 apiece before having to limp off the field midway through the second Test. Steve Harmison, too, had to toil on the subcontinent before returning with a vengeance to rout Pakistan at home.

Andrew Flintoff, on the other hand, has performed better abroad. Until 2003, Flintoff averaged a whopping 63.30 at home while during the same period he took wickets overseas at 31.91 apiece . However, Flintoff's home form has improved dramatically and since 2004, he averages 25.14 at home and has improved his overseas performances as well.

Home bowling average worse than the away average - Tests (qualification: 3000 balls bowled at home, 3000 away, at least 90 balls bowled per match)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
FMM Worrell (WI)	1948-1963		25	21	60.76	0		26	48	29.08	2		31.678
HJ Howarth (NZ)	1969-1977		14	29	47.96	0		16	57	31.35	2		16.614
AL Valentine (WI)	1950-1962		14	45	39.84	2		22	94	25.76	6		14.078
N Boje (SAf)	2000-2006		22	35	51.39	0		21	65	37.93	3		13.461
AN Connolly (Aust)	1963-1971		13	36	37.58	1		16	66	24.66	3		12.916
TE Bailey (Eng)	1949-1959		33	62	35.93	3		28	70	23.25	2		12.678
AW Greig (Eng)	1972-1977		31	59	37.91	0		27	82	28.09	6		9.817
TBA May (Aust)	1987-1995		13	30	40.03	2		11	45	31.22	1		8.811
JA Snow (Eng)	1965-1976		37	140	29.21	3		12	62	20.91	5		8.294
A Flintoff (Eng/ICC)	1998-2006		33	92	34.68	1		29	94	28.04	1		6.642

Joel Garner is the only bowler to average less than 20 in both forms of the game away from home. He averaged 19.74 in away Tests and 19.82 in ODIs. However, his one-day average at home was only 15.37.

Among the 12 countries he's played one-day cricket in, Courtney Walsh's poorest average is at home where his wickets cost 40.02 each. Only twice out of 50 matches in the West Indies has Walsh taken three wickets in an innings while he has gone without a wicket in 17 matches.

Home bowling average worse than the away average - ODIs (qualification: 1500 balls bowled at home, 1500 away, at least 30 balls bowled per match)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
Shoaib Malik (Pak)	1999-2006		36	29	44.51	0		82	69	29.26	0		15.256
PAJ DeFreitas (Eng)	1987-1997		27	25	43.35	0		76	90	29.89	0		13.459
Abdul Razzaq (Asia/Pak)	1996-2006		44	40	41.00	0		168	190	28.49	3		12.505
CA Walsh (WI)	1985-2000		50	46	40.02	0		155	181	28.04	1		11.972
CL Hooper (WI)	1987-2003		57	41	45.31	0		170	152	33.55	0		11.764
M Prabhakar (India)	1984-1996		65	65	35.76	2		65	92	24.01	0		11.758
Wasim Akram (Pak)	1984-2003		67	72	31.12	1		289	430	22.25	5		8.866
JN Gillespie (Aust)	1996-2005		29	37	30.54	0		68	105	23.62	3		6.911
AA Donald (SAf)	1991-2003		63	88	26.35	0		101	184	19.60	2		6.749
IT Botham (Eng)	1976-1992		47	56	32.57	0		69	89	26.01	0		6.560

Allan Donald's one-day record in South Africa - an average of 26.35 and a strike-rate of 37.2 - is his worst among all the nations he's played in. However, his Test record is far more consistent with his home average of 21.64 only marginally better than his away average.

Expectedly most of India's spinners feature in the list of bowlers with far better home averages. Venkatapathy Raju's overall average of 30.72 in Tests is a result of his home average, 24, balancing his atrocious overseas record where he's taken just 22 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 52.40. Another left-arm spinner, Maninder Singh had a record very similar to Raju's. He played 17 Tests overseas and took only 26 wickets while he managed to take 36 more wickets at home in just 18 Tests.

Home bowling average better than the away average - Tests (qualification: 3000 balls bowled at home, 3000 away, at least 90 balls bowled per match)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
SLV Raju (India)	1990-2001		16	71	24.00	5		12	22	52.40	0		-28.409
DK Morrison (NZ)	1987-1997		27	115	27.12	9		21	45	54.00	1		-26.878
R Illingworth (Eng)	1958-1973		43	102	27.14	3		18	20	51.89	0		-24.752
Maninder Singh (India)	1982-1993		18	62	30.61	3		17	26	53.46	0		-22.848
CL Hooper (WI)	1987-2002		45	62	39.88	3		57	52	60.80	1		-20.920
Abdul Qadir (Pak)	1977-1990		40	168	26.82	12		27	68	47.58	3		-20.766
RO Collinge (NZ)	1965-1978		20	80	23.86	2		15	36	41.22	1		-17.359
DR Doshi (India)	1979-1983		21	77	25.38	4		12	37	41.81	2		-16.421
MH Mankad (India)	1946-1959		23	103	26.53	4		21	59	42.42	4		-15.889
M Ntini (SAf)	1998-2006		35	176	22.83	9		34	98	38.08	5		-15.246

Home bowling average better than the away average - ODIs (qualification: 1500 balls bowled at home, 1500 away, at least 30 balls bowled per match)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
RS Kalpage (SL)	1992-1999		33	39	27.61	0		53	34	55.82	0		-28.208
UDU Chandana (SL)	1994-2005		59	82	22.95	1		87	69	42.14	0		-19.193
DR Tuffey (NZ)	2000-2005		32	51	23.45	0		44	39	38.38	0		-14.933
CZ Harris (NZ)	1990-2004		94	94	29.73	0		156	109	44.20	1		-14.467
DK Morrison (NZ)	1987-1996		49	76	22.61	1		47	50	35.02	1		-12.401
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL)	1989-2006		103	99	29.15	2		260	179	41.07	2		-11.921
Mohammad Rafique (Bang)	1995-2006		37	44	35.00	1		62	50	44.61	0		-9.619
SM Pollock (Afr/ICC/SAf)	1996-2006		108	167	20.30	3		151	181	27.98	1		-7.678
W Watson (NZ)	1986-1994		28	38	27.05	0		33	36	33.86	0		-6.808
DN Patel (NZ)	1987-1997		35	22	46.77	0		40	23	53.56	0		-6.792