How the forfeiture denied Yousuf a shot at a record

Travis Basevi and George Binoy23-Aug-2006

Graham Gooch on his way to 333 against India at Lord's in 1990 © Getty Images

Though England had wrapped up the series before the fourth Test, they had received a hammering from Mohammad Yousuf. His scores in the series were 202, 48, 38, 15, 192 and 8. Pakistan were pushing for a consolation win at The Oval and Yousuf scored 128 in the first innings. With one innings left, he had an outside shot at beating Mudassar Nazar's Pakistan record for most runs in a series but because of the forfeiture on the fourth day his tally remained 631. Yousuf, however, did move past Hanif Mohammad's 628 against West Indies in 1957-58 to become the third-highest run-scorer in a series for Pakistan and the fifth-highest overall in a four-Test series.

Jacques Kallis's 712 runs against West Indies in 2003-04 is the highest in a four-Test series. He scored four centuries, a fifty and 44 in six innings but still lost the Man-of-the-Series award to Makhaya Ntini, who took 29 wickets.

George Headley scored three hundreds and a double-century in his debut series against England. He became the first West Indian to score hundreds in each innings as West Indies levelled the series in the third Test at Georgetown. In total, Headley amassed 703 runs but England's Patsy Hendren provided the balance with 693 runs and the series was drawn.

Most runs in a 4-Test series

Player	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	Series	Season
JH Kallis (SAf)	6	712	177	178.00	4	1	v WI	2003/04
RT Ponting (Aust)	8	706	257	100.85	2	2	v India	2003/04
GA Headley (WI)	8	703	223	87.87	4	0	v Eng	1929/30
EH Hendren (Eng)	8	693	205*	115.50	2	5	v WI	1929/30
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	7	631	202	90.14	3	0	v Eng	2006
RB Richardson (WI)	7	619	194	88.42	2	3	v India	1988/89
R Dravid (India)	8	619	233	123.80	1	3	v Aust	2003/04
MP Vaughan (Eng)	7	615	197	102.50	3	1	v India	2002
R Dravid (India)	6	602	217	100.33	3	1	v Eng	2002
A Sandham (Eng)	8	592	325	74.00	2	2	v WI	1929/30

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Graham Gooch's plundering of the Indian attack to the tune of 752 runs in 1990 is the highest aggregate in a three-Test series. Gooch began the series with 333 and 123 at Lord's and broke Greg Chappell's record for the most runs in a match. He scored 116 in the first innings of the second Test at Old Trafford and equalled the English record - held by Herbert Sutcliffe, Denis Compton and Geoffrey Boycott - for most centuries in consecutive innings. He missed out on two hundreds in the third Test at The Oval where he was dismissed for 85 and 88.

Most runs in a 3-Test series

Player	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	Series	Season
GA Gooch (Eng)	6	752	333	125.33	3	2	v India	1990
BC Lara (WI)	6	688	221	114.66	3	1	v SL	2001/02
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	5	583	235*	194.33	2	1	v India	1978/79
SM Nurse (WI)	5	558	258	111.60	2	1	v NZ	1968/69
Saleem Malik (Pak)	6	557	237	92.83	2	1	v Aust	1994/95
Younis Khan (Pak)	5	553	199	110.60	2	2	v India	2005/06
ML Hayden (Aust)	6	549	203	109.80	2	2	v India	2000/01
V Sehwag (India)	6	544	201	90.66	2	1	v Pak	2004/05
JC Adams (WI)	6	520	174*	173.33	2	2	v India	1994/95
RT Ponting (Aust)	6	515	143*	103.00	3	2	v SAf	2005/06

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While Gooch's runs played a crucial part in England winning that series, Lara's 688 runs against Sri Lanka in 2001-02 couldn't prevent West Indies from suffering a 0-3 whitewash. Sri Lanka won the third Test in Colombo by ten wickets in which Lara scored 221 and 130 and beat Andy Flower's record for most runs scored in a lost match.

Lara's 798 runs against England in 1993-94 is the only entry in the top ten for a five-Test series in the last 30 years. Fourteen of the 20-highest aggregates were scored before 1950 with Don Bradman appearing five times. Bradman's 974 runs in England in 1930 is the highest aggregate in a series of any length. That performance helped wrest back the Ashes after Wally Hammond's 905 runs in 1928-29 steered England to victory in Australia. In the series that followed, Bradman was restricted to a mere 396 runs due to the infamous Bodyline tactics.

Most runs in a 5-Test series

Player	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	Series	Season
DG Bradman (Aust)	7	974	334	139.14	4	0	v Eng	1930
WR Hammond (Eng)	9	905	251	113.12	4	0	v Aust	1928/29
RN Harvey (Aust)	9	834	205	92.66	4	3	v SAf	1952/53
IVA Richards (WI)	7	829	291	118.42	3	2	v Eng	1976
CL Walcott (WI)	10	827	155	82.70	5	2	v Aust	1954/55
GS Sobers (WI)	8	824	365*	137.33	3	3	v Pak	1957/58
DG Bradman (Aust)	9	810	270	90.00	3	1	v Eng	1936/37
DG Bradman (Aust)	5	806	299*	201.50	4	0	v SAf	1931/32
BC Lara (WI)	8	798	375	99.75	2	2	v Eng	1993/94
ED Weekes (WI)	7	779	194	111.28	4	2	v India	1948/49

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Sachin Tendulkar is conspicuous by his absence in the tables - his highest Test series aggregate is 446 against Australia in 1997-98. However, Tendulkar is the only batsman to have scored over 500 runs in a World Cup . In the 1996 edition he scored 523 runs and was Man of the Tournament in South Africa in 2003 where his 673 runs were instrumental in India reaching the finals.

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Next week we'll look at bowlers with the most wickets in a series.

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